Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman by Richard P. Feynman

I have to understand the world you see. ~ Richard Feynman

Richard P. Feynman was a Nobel Prize-winning American theoretical physicist. Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman might be described as an autobiography, but I believe it is more of a memoir. In the introduction, another scientist, Albert R. Hibbs, describes Feynman as having…

Indignant impatience with pretension and hypocrisy…

Indeed. He was a fascinating man, so much more than a physicist, and so unintimidated in pursuit of unlocking the secrets of the universe.

 

The title is taken from an early Princeton experience: He was invited to a formal social event. When asked if he wanted cream or lemon in his tea, being unfamiliar with tea protocol, he said he’d take both. The hostess laughingly replied…

Surely you’re joking Mr. Feynman!

After his student days, he describes his work on the Manhattan Project, where he associated with some of the great scientific minds of the 20th century. He asserts that he was not very distinguished yet, but he did make some substantial contributions. He was a constant challenge to the censors, who reviewed incoming and outgoing mail. The censors thought he was sending unauthorized coded messages to his wife, that were completely innocent, so to confound the censors, he developed code to hide his everyday communication with her that would not arouse suspicion. He also became a safecracker. This to access data and research if the proper custodian was out of office. Also, he just loved the challenge.

I love puzzles. One guy tries to make something to keep another guy out; there must be a way to beat it!

I was in the military and later a defense civilian. I worked with contractor scientists and classified information. I can appreciate that Feynman must have driven the government bureaucrats crazy.

 

He never faced a puzzle he couldn’t solve and never let his lack of knowledge deter him. When planning a trip to Brazil, he simply decided to learn Portuguese. While in Brazil, a trip to Japan became necessary, so he learned Japanese from a Brazilian woman. He also liked Samba music and learned to play the samba drums well enough to be part of several bands in Brazil.

 

At another point in his eclectic life, he befriended an artist. When they discovered some communication barriers due to their different fields, they traded art lessons for physics lessons. Feynman became an artist of some distinction under the pseudonym Ofey. Of his art career, he said…

It’s fun to be in a different world!

These, and many other stories, demonstrate what I found to be his most impressive quality. If he didn’t understand something – he’d learn it.

 

While contemplating physics problems, he would walk outside his city home. His odd behavior drew the attention of the police.

On earlier occasions I was often stopped by the police, because I would be walking along, thinking, and then I’d stop – sometimes an idea comes that’s difficult enough that you can’t keep walking: you have to make sure of something. So I’d stop, and sometimes I’d hold my hands out in the air, saying to myself, “The distance between these is that way, and then this would turn over this way…”

 

I’d be moving my hands, standing in the street, when the police would come: “what is your name? Where do you live? What are you doing?

They eventually got used to him.

 

He tells how he wanted the experience of having a hallucination.

I had once thought to take drugs, but I got kind of scared of that. I love to think, and I don’t want to screw with the machine.

He opted for a clinical sensory deprivation lab, which produced his desired experience.

 

And the final chapter: "Cargo Cult Science", I nearly stood and cheered. Published in 1985, it is as relevant today as ever. He exposes lazy, faulty, invalid studies, falsely called science, that do not tolerate scrutiny. I cannot do it justice here.

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself.

He opines that scientists must have

…extra type of integrity that is not lying, but bending over backwards to show how you’re maybe wrong, that you ought to have when acting as a scientist.

And also…

It is very dangerous to have such a policy in teaching – to teach students only how to get certain results, rather than how to do an experiment with scientific integrity.

This book was a departure from my usual reading. It was a gift from a colleague upon my retirement. I thoroughly enjoyed it. What a remarkable man.

 

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