Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!
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Narrated by:
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Raymond Todd
About this listen
One of the most famous science books of our time, the phenomenal national bestseller that “buzzes with energy, anecdote and life. It almost makes you want to become a physicist” (Science Digest).
Richard Feynman, one of the world’s greatest theoretical physicists, thrived on adventure. His outrageous exploits once shocked a Princeton dean’s wife to exclaim: “Surely you’re joking, Mr. Feynman!”
In this phenomenal national bestseller, the Nobel Prize–winning physicist recounts in his inimitable voice his experiences trading ideas on atomic physics with Einstein and Bohr and ideas on gambling with Nick the Greek, painting a naked female toreador, accompanying a ballet on his bongo drums, and much else of an eyebrow-raising and hilarious nature. Woven together with his views on science, Feynman’s life story is a combustible mixture of high intelligence, unlimited curiosity, eternal skepticism, and raging chutzpah.
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Critic reviews
"A chain reaction is not a bad analogy for Feynman's life. From a critical mass of gray matter it goes off in all directions, producing both heat and light." (Time)
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- By: Paula Poundstone
- Narrated by: Paula Poundstone
- Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins
- Abridged
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What do the lives of Lincoln, Helen Keller, Joan of Arc, and other historical figures have in common with Paula Poundstone? In the hands of this wryly observant and self-deprecating comedian, the answer is outrageously funny and unexpectedly touching. Poundstone compares her crazy life to theirs, as she holds forth on her children, her career, and the time in her life when it appeared she would lose them both.
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More!
- By Evelyn on 02-11-07
By: Paula Poundstone
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The Pursuit of Happyness (Abridged)
- By: Chris Gardner
- Narrated by: Andre Blake
- Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins
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At the age of 20, Chris Gardner arrived in San Francisco to pursue a promising career in medicine. However, he surprised everyone and himself by setting his sights on the competitive world of high finance. Yet no sooner had he landed an entry-level position at a prestigious firm, Gardner found himself caught in a web of incredibly challenging circumstances that left him part of the city's working homeless with his toddler son.
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Very Good Story!
- By Lito Da Critic on 06-02-06
By: Chris Gardner
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The Ditchdigger's Daughters
- A Black Family's Astonishing Success Story
- By: Yvonne S. Thornton M.D., Jo Coudert
- Narrated by: Fran L. Washington
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Donald Thornton was a ditchdigger who wanted more for his six daughters. "I love you better than I love life," he assured his children. "But I'm not always gonna be around to look after you, and no man's gonna come along and offer to take care of you, because you ain't light-skinned. That's why you gotta be able to look after yourselves. And for that you gotta be smart."
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Perfection
- By Anonymous User on 06-24-24
By: Yvonne S. Thornton M.D., and others
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Because I Come from a Crazy Family
- The Making of a Psychiatrist
- By: Edward M. Hallowell
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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When Edward M. Hallowell was 11, a voice out of nowhere told him he should become a psychiatrist. A mental health professional of the time would have called this psychosis. But young Edward (Ned) took it in stride, despite not quite knowing what "psychiatrist" meant. With a psychotic father, an alcoholic mother, an abusive stepfather, and two so-called learning disabilities of his own, Ned was accustomed to unpredictable behaviour from those around him and to a mind he felt he couldn't always control.
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Love and connection permeates through this book!
- By Steve Steinmetz on 06-29-18
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Hector and the Search for Happiness
- By: François Lelord
- Narrated by: James Clamp
- Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Hector is very good at treating patients in need of his help. But he can’t do much for those who are simply dissatisfied with life, and that is beginning to depress him. When a patient tells him he looks in need of a vacation, Hector takes a trip around the world to learn what makes people happy—and sad. As he travels from Paris to China to Africa to the United States, he lists his observations about the people he meets. Is there a secret to happiness, and will Hector find it? Hector’s journey ventures around the globe and into the human soul.
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Wonderful, uplifting, full of wisdom ;-)
- By Birta Flokadottir on 05-04-15
By: François Lelord
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Appointment in Samarra
- Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition
- By: John O'Hara, Charles McGrath - introduction
- Narrated by: Christian Camargo
- Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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In December 1930, just before Christmas, the Gibbsville, Pennsylvania, social circuit is electrified with parties and dances. At the center of the social elite stand Julian and Caroline English. But in one rash moment born inside a highball glass, Julian breaks with polite society and begins a rapid descent toward self-destruction.
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Quite good, but not a classic
- By Michael on 04-25-15
By: John O'Hara, and others
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Father Fiction
- Chapters for a Fatherless Generation
- By: Donald Miller
- Narrated by: Kelly Ryan Dolan
- Length: 4 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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A memoir with a message, this audiobook shares the angst of a boy growing up without a father and how he found his way.
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Should make it clear this is a religious book
- By Victoria on 05-10-19
By: Donald Miller
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This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Ann Patchett
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Blending literature and memoir, Ann Patchett, author of State of Wonder and Bel Canto examines her deepest commitments: to writing, family, friends, dogs, books, and her husband in This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage. Together, these essays, previously published in The Atlantic, Harper, Vogue, and The Washington Post, form a resonant portrait of a life lived with loyalty and with love.
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Entertaining, engrossing, and elucidative essays
- By Bonny on 01-07-14
By: Ann Patchett
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What Do You Care What Other People Think?
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One of the greatest physicists of the twentieth century, Richard Feynman possessed an unquenchable thirst for adventure and an unparalleled ability to tell the stories of his life. "What Do You Care What Other People Think?" is Feynman's last literary legacy, prepared with his friend and fellow drummer, Ralph Leighton.
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Sure You're Joking is much better.
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The Pleasure of Finding Things Out is a magnificent treasury of the best short works of Richard P. Feynman, from interviews and speeches to lectures and printed articles. A sweeping, wide-ranging collection, it presents an intimate and fascinating view of a life in science - a life like no other. From his ruminations on science in our culture to his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, this book will delight anyone interested in the world of ideas.
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Interesting, but material is covered in better book.
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The Meaning of it All
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In this collection of lectures that Richard Feynman originally gave in 1963, unpublished during his lifetime, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist discusses several of the ultimate questions of science. What is the nature of the tension between science and religious faith? Why does uncertainty play such a crucial role in the scientific imagination? Is this really a scientific age?
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Meh....
- By Brain on 10-15-17
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Six Easy Pieces
- Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher
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Designed for non-scientists, Six Easy Pieces is an unparalleled introduction to the world of physics by one of the greatest teachers of all time.
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Unintelligible
- By M. on 08-06-05
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Six Not-So-Easy Pieces
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- By: Richard P. Feynman
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No 20th-century American scientist is better known to a wider spectrum of people than Richard P. Feynman (1918-1988), physicist, teacher, author, and cultural icon. His autobiographies and biographies have been read and enjoyed by millions of readers around the world, while his wit and eccentricities have made him the subject of TV specials and even a theatrical film.
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Very Interesting, but ...
- By Doug on 01-01-06
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The Character of Physical Law
- By: Richard P. Feynman
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In these Messenger Lectures, originally delivered at Cornell University and recorded for television by the BBC, Richard Feynman offers an overview of selected physical laws and gathers their common features into one broad principle of invariance. He maintains at the outset that the importance of a physical law is not "how clever we are to have foundit out but…how clever nature is to pay attention to it" and steers his discussions toward a final exposition of the elegance and simplicity of all scientific laws.
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Better read than listened to
- By duncan koch on 02-25-18
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What Do You Care What Other People Think?
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One of the greatest physicists of the twentieth century, Richard Feynman possessed an unquenchable thirst for adventure and an unparalleled ability to tell the stories of his life. "What Do You Care What Other People Think?" is Feynman's last literary legacy, prepared with his friend and fellow drummer, Ralph Leighton.
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Sure You're Joking is much better.
- By Jose on 12-29-16
By: Richard P. Feynman, and others
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The Pleasure of Finding Things Out
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The Pleasure of Finding Things Out is a magnificent treasury of the best short works of Richard P. Feynman, from interviews and speeches to lectures and printed articles. A sweeping, wide-ranging collection, it presents an intimate and fascinating view of a life in science - a life like no other. From his ruminations on science in our culture to his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, this book will delight anyone interested in the world of ideas.
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Interesting, but material is covered in better book.
- By Erlend on 04-06-16
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The Meaning of it All
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In this collection of lectures that Richard Feynman originally gave in 1963, unpublished during his lifetime, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist discusses several of the ultimate questions of science. What is the nature of the tension between science and religious faith? Why does uncertainty play such a crucial role in the scientific imagination? Is this really a scientific age?
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Meh....
- By Brain on 10-15-17
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Unintelligible
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No 20th-century American scientist is better known to a wider spectrum of people than Richard P. Feynman (1918-1988), physicist, teacher, author, and cultural icon. His autobiographies and biographies have been read and enjoyed by millions of readers around the world, while his wit and eccentricities have made him the subject of TV specials and even a theatrical film.
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Very Interesting, but ...
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In these Messenger Lectures, originally delivered at Cornell University and recorded for television by the BBC, Richard Feynman offers an overview of selected physical laws and gathers their common features into one broad principle of invariance. He maintains at the outset that the importance of a physical law is not "how clever we are to have foundit out but…how clever nature is to pay attention to it" and steers his discussions toward a final exposition of the elegance and simplicity of all scientific laws.
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Better read than listened to
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Genius
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From the author of the national best seller Chaos comes an outstanding biography of one of the most dazzling and flamboyant scientists of the 20th century that "not only paints a highly attractive portrait of Feynman but also . . . makes for a stimulating adventure in the annals of science." ( The New York Times).
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Ok, that's the last straw...Dess Carts?
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Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track
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Few scientists have enthralled more people than Richard P. Feynman, the Nobel Prize winner and best-selling author of Six Easy Pieces and Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! Beloved for his engaging character and zest for life, he is an American icon. In this selection of letters, Feynman's towering genius and singular personality shine like dazzling stars.
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Absolutely delightful
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The Science of Self-Learning
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How to learn effectively when you have to be both the teacher and student. Work smarter and save yourself countless hours. Self-learning is not just about performing better in the classroom or the office. It’s about being able to aim your life in whatever direction you choose and conquering the obstacles in front of you.
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Good Guide for Self-Learners
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Perhaps the greatest physicist of the second half of the 20th century, Richard Feynman changed the way we think about quantum mechanics, the most perplexing of all physical theories. Here Lawrence M. Krauss, himself a theoretical physicist and best-selling author, offers a unique scientific biography: a rollicking narrative coupled with clear and novel expositions of science at the limits.
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Richard Feynman's Science
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A Rare Recording of Physicist Richard Feynman Explaining Scientific Method
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Richard Phillips Feynman (May 11, 1918 - February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist, known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium. In 1965, Feynman received the Nobel Prize in Physics jointly with Julian Schwinger and Shin'ichirō Tomonaga.
By: Richard Feynman
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For the Love of Physics
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As Carl Sagan did for astronomy and Brian Green did for cosmology, Walter Lewin takes listeners on a marvelous journey in For the Love of Physics, opening our eyes as never before to the amazing beauty and power with which physics can reveal the hidden workings of the world all around us. "I introduce people to their own world," writes Lewin, "the world they live in and are familiar with but don't approach like a physicist - yet."
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Stay on Topic Please
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Over the past five decades, the tech industry has grown into one of the most important sectors of the global economy, and Silicon Valley - replete with sprawling office parks, sky-high rents, and countless self-made millionaires - is home to many of its key players. But the origins of Silicon Valley and the tech sector are much humbler. At a time when tech companies’ influence continues to grow, The Big Score chronicles how they began.
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Worthwhile and engaging.
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Isaac Newton
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James Gleick has long been fascinated by the making of science: how ideas order visible appearances, how equations can give meaning to molecular and stellar phenomena, how theories can transform what we see. In Chaos, he chronicled the emergence of a new way of looking at dynamic systems; in Genius, he portrayed the wondrous dimensions of Richard Feymnan's mind.
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BRUTAL
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E=mc2: It may be Einstein’s most well-known contribution to modern science, but how many people understand the thought process or physics behind this famous equation? In this collection of his seven most important essays on physics, Einstein guides the listener step-by-step through the many layers of scientific theory that formed a starting point for his discoveries.
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Pure Einstein but not an introduction
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By: Albert Einstein
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Quantum
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Quantum theory is weird. As Niels Bohr said, if you aren’t shocked by quantum theory, you don’t really understand it. For most people, quantum theory is synonymous with mysterious, impenetrable science. And in fact for many years it was equally baffling for scientists themselves. In this tour de force of science history, Manjit Kumar gives a dramatic and superbly written account of this fundamental scientific revolution.
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Biographic facts not explanations.
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To Engineer Is Human
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How did a simple design error cause one of the great disasters of the 1980s - the collapse of the walkways at the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel? What made the graceful and innovative Tacoma Narrows Bridge twist apart in a mild wind in 1940? How did an oversized waterlily inspire the magnificent Crystal Palace, the crowning achievement of Victorian architecture and engineering? These are some of the failures and successes that Henry Petroski, author of the acclaimed The Pencil, examines in this engaging, wonderfully literate book.
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Great For Understanding How Things Fail
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Mindstorm
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Fight for your friends, your family, your future. It’s the near future and severe poverty is the new normal for the majority of humanity. The world is suffering from climate change and the future seems bleak. In the UK, children with incredible psychic abilities begin to appear. For Oscar Hyde, life has never been harder. Everyone he knows is moving out of the city. Even his family are considering going. When Oscar discovers he has the power to be ignored, he succumbs to temptation and starts stealing. As his opportunistic tendencies take over, he becomes addicted to the adrenaline-...
By: ZZ Adams
What listeners say about Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Stephanie Monty
- 03-16-15
I'm so glad people like this wrote it down!
What did you love best about Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!?
Raw, honest and hilarious. I love how he explains why he makes the choices he makes. The strength of the character is appealing and refreshing. We need more people to stick to their guns no matter the consequence when they have decided to do a thing, make a bet or go against the grain...it's just more interesting to see a thing through. I'm a mid 30's female and feel like we would have made fine friends. Do they make them like this anymore? I'll take 2 please!
You know a book is good when you wish you could have met the person IRL. He would probably never describe himself this way but I can see the impish twinkle in his eyes...
What did you like best about this story?
I'm glad when someone with a different way of thinking is able to navigate this crazy world and manages to stretch themselves past being comfortable in the pursuit of discovery, fun and expression without being so badly bruised by the experience. Here, here for intolerance to bureaucracy and pomp. How funny it would be today to try and get away with signing less than 13 times! I agree that if you trust someone enough to sign a thing that they should trust you to deliver the expense report, sans receipts..ROFL
What about Raymond Todd’s performance did you like?
Smooth voice, easy to listen to. Good characterization, voice acting and accents.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes but I had to listen in pieces. I could have listened to the entirety if I had time.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Eric
- 10-11-11
Very enjoyable
Very enjoyable audiobook. Basically a collection of short stories by physicist Richard Feynman. A love of science would be helpful for the listener, but this is not a prerequisite. Clever and humorous.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 04-08-19
Humorous, witty, and very enjoyable
Richard Feynman is famous for being a quirky genius but this book gives you almost a first hand experience.
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- Anonymous User
- 05-20-18
got to be the smartest man on earth, dr. Feynman
gives me hope for future physicists. narrator was awesome too. best first purchase buying more now
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- Bertie
- 02-21-13
A delightfully odd and wide-ranging autobiography
This is a delightfully odd and wide-ranging autobiography of Dr. Richard Feynman, the Nobel prize winning physicist and world class trouble-maker.
Feynman's personality comes across as something between Hawkeye Pierce from M*A*S*H and Larry David from Curb Your Enthusiasm: he has a great sense of humor, humanity, and love of pranks but lacks many of the normal social graces and filters.
What is so surprising, and what makes Feynman so compelling and relatable, is that so much of his reputation as a genius seems to turn on his personality or even luck. At Los Alamos he was young, unknown, brash, and surrounded by giants of theoretical physics. Against the odds, Feynman distinguished himself in part because he didn't have the social graces to defer to the superstars in the field. Indeed, Niels Bohr and Einstein sought him out specifically because they needed someone to challenge and improve their ideas, not gawp and and fawn over them.
The stories from Los Alamos range from delightful to chilling. He discusses pranks he and his wife played on the Army censors, as well as his career as an amateur safecracker. At Los Alamos he broke into the three safes containing ALL of America's nuclear secrets. [Aside: not everyone saw this or other questionable incidents as innocent pranks] He also mentions how several near-disasters were avoided by sheer dumb luck.
During his sabbatical in Brazil he learned to play the frigideira (a percussion instrument derived from a frying pan) and drums well enough for his samba school to win a competition, while at the same time he was causing mayhem among Brazil's academia.
His stories also include such unexpected experiences as fights in bars, hanging out with show girls in Vegas, and how to pick up women.
The recurring themes are his unquenchable (and contagious!) curiosity about everything and his willingness to try and learn new things. Throughout it all he maintains a playful sense of humor and innocent personality, even in situations that seem anything but.
Physics comes up infrequently and is discussed only conversationally. For example, Feynman claims to be the only person who truly saw the first nuclear bomb explode. He explained that while everyone else was wearing super-dark glasses or laying on the floor of a bunker, he jumped into an army truck and watched through the windshield, knowing that bright light can't actually damage your eyes and that the windshield would protect his eyes from harmful UV light.
The book was dictated, not written, and therefor retains a conversational and unstructured style that may not appeal to everyone. Feynman's speaking patterns can also become repetitive at times, e.g. he frequently has other people exclaiming in exaggerated surprise or wonder "you're a genius!" or "how can that be!?" Also, some of the stories may also seem a bit mundane. To me, however, they make Feynman seem more human, and the label 'genius' a little less mysterious and intimidating.
Overall, I found this a very enjoyable read and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about the life and quirky personality of one of the great physicists of the 20th century.
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- William
- 10-27-17
The Aspiring Physicist's Must-Read!!!
I'll always love "Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman." I first read it when I was about 16. After 12 years, the book is just as inspiring. With the benefits of experience and a plethora of new knowledge gained, I listen to his words with a new, deeper perspective.
In my first read, I fell in love with Feynman's stories of curiosity, always seeking to understand, never stop asking why, or perhaps most appropriately, how. How do things work?
This time, Feynman reminded me that it's okay to play. To be curious. Curiosity and imagination are perhaps the most valuable resources of humankind. They allow us to create a world that is better than the ones our grandparents knew. And imagination will allow our children to create an even better world than that!
This Feynman classic will entertain and inspire you as it does me! Cheers!
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- David Reyna
- 10-15-15
I want this guy to narrate my life 😂
I loved the book. Everything about it. You get fully immersed into his life, and actually feel like you're a part of it. I could t stop listening.
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- Mo
- 02-09-17
Raymond Todd
Really really good book and Richard Is a great scientist. but the way Raymond narrated was very very annoying. He kept going to a high pitch.
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- Val
- 03-09-17
Great story, well read
This book is fantastic. It took me a few chapters to warm up to the reader, but after that I thought he did a really good job. Just the voice I would expect from Richard Feynman.
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Performance
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Story
- Lisa
- 10-01-11
Loved it
I'm terrible at writing reviews. Get it, you won't regret it. The narration is great, and the man tells a wicked story of his life. It's inspiring.
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