The Beat Ofa Different Drum
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Richard Feynman and the Pleasure Principle Algis Valiunas
Richard Feynman and the Pleasure Principle Algis Valiunas “Energy is eternal delight,” the poet and painter William Blake declared, and the consummate physicist Richard Feynman — born in May 1918 — embodied that credo as far as a human being can in his allotted earthly span. The modern world is sometimes called disenchanted, denud- ed of magic, because science has annihilated the invisible homeland of the spirits, where angels, demons, and God himself were believed to dwell. But Feynman spoke unabashedly of the wonders and miracles to be found in nature as modern science describes it; the physical world enchanted him because it gave him so much to think about. His mind cavorted as he unlocked some of nature’s most daunting puzzles. The quantum world with its intricate bizarrerie, which upended the established order of clas- sical physics indisputable since Newton, flummoxed an intelligence as monumental as Einstein’s. But Feynman made himself comfortable there, as though it were his native habitat. The secrets Feynman uncovered of the infinitesimal clarified the world of objects we can see and feel. He was a signature contributor to the theory of quantum electrodynamics (QED), describing the interaction of subatomic particles with light. From QED, one could derive “the basic rules for all ordinary phenomena except for gravitation and nuclear pro- cesses,” as he explained in his Lectures on Physics, the text of the two-year introductory course he taught at Caltech in the early 1960s: ...out of quantum electrodynamics come all known electrical, mechan- ical, and chemical laws: the laws for the collision of billiard balls, the motions of wires in magnetic fields, the specific heat of carbon mon- oxide, the color of neon signs, the density of salt, and the reactions of hydrogen and oxygen to make water are all consequences of this one law. -
The Pleasure of Finding Things out the Best Short Works of Richard P
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman by Richard P. Feynman Edited by Jeffry Robbins Foreword by Freeman Dyson H elix Bo o k s PERSEUS BOOKS Cambridge, Massachusetts Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and Perseus Books was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed in initial capital letters. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 99-64775 ISBN: 0-7382-0108-1 Copyright © 1999 by Carl Feynman and Michelle Feynman Editor’s Introduction, chapter introductions, and footnotes copyright © 1999 by Jeffrey Robbins Acknowledgments for previously published material appear on page 259. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a re trieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America. Perseus Books is a member of the Perseus Books Group Jacket design Brace W. Bond Text design by Rachel Flegarty Set in 11-point Berthold Garamond 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 03 02 01 00 99 First printing, July, 1999 Find Helix Books on the World Wide Web at http:// w ww. perseusbooksgroup. com The Pleasure of Finding Things Out other books by Richard P. Feynman The Character o f Physical Law Elementary Particles and the Laws o f Physics: The 1986 Dirac Memorial Lectures (with Steven Weinberg) Feynman Lectures on Physics (with Robert Leighton and Matthew Sands) Lectures on Computation (edited by Anthony J. -
Remembering a Great Teacher Arxiv:1512.08247V1 [Physics.Hist-Ph]
Remembering a Great Teacher Alberto Sirlin Department of Physics, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003 USA December 29, 2015 Abstract The article is a recollection of the memorable experience of attending a course on Quantum Mechanics given by Feynman in Brasil, as well as several meetings and exchanges Daniele Amati and I had with him over many years, in both the U.S. and Europe. The article also includes a small sample of the problems assigned in the course, a one-page guide, hand-written by Feynman, to study QED on the basis of two of his most important papers, and his reply to a letter of congratulations that the author had sent to him on the occasion of his Nobel Prize Award. As evidenced by his famous Lectures on Physics, brilliant short books, and video presen- tations, Richard Feynman was not only one of the greatest physicists of the 20th century, but also a remarkable teacher. This article is a recollection of the memorable experience of attending a course on Quantum Mechanics given by Feynman in Brasil in 1953, as well as several meetings and exchanges my close friend and classmate Daniele Amati and I had with him over many years, in both the U.S. and Europe. In order to explain the long and fruitful relation Daniele and I had with Feynman, a brief description of our background is useful. Daniele and I were classmates in high school and university, and completed our doctoral studies at the University of Buenos Aires in 1952. Our research adviser was Richard Gans, a noted classical physicist who was both a theorist and an experimentalist. -
Feynman, by Jim Ottaviani and Leland Myrick Bibliography ISBN 978-1596432598
Feynman, by Jim Ottaviani and Leland Myrick Bibliography ISBN 978-1596432598 Complete bibliography (almost*) for Feynman, by Jim Ottaviani and Leland Myrick (NY: First Second, 2011) By Feynman “Address to Far Rockaway High School Audience.” (Courtesy of the California Institute of Technology Archives, 1966.) Much of the sequence showing Feynman in high school comes from this speech. Even if Caltech wasn’t such a lovely campus—and if their student union didn’t offer terrific vegetarian pizza by the slice!—I’d recommend a trip just to read it. The Character of Physical Law (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1965). The perfect book to read to get a feel for quantum physics. The introduction for this book comes from an anecdote recounted by James Gleick's introduction to the 1994 Modern Library edition, so seek that one out if you can’t find the original. Classic Feynman: All the Adventures of a Curious Character (NY: W.W. Norton, 2006). While I still like the original volumes, since the Feynman stories out of order are a great way to experience a life the way it is—messy, and without a discernable plot!—this may just be bias resulting from these being my first exposure to them. So if you only get one, the omnibus Classic Feynman is your best bet. It not only has all the stories from Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! (1985) and “What Do You Care What Other People Think?” (1988) but also includes a CD with Feynman telling the “Los Alamos From Below” story. Carl and Michelle Feynman contribute to the book as well, as do Freeman Dyson and Alan Alda. -
The Feynman Lectures on Physics
Feynman After 40 John Preskill APS April Meeting 16 April 2018 John Wheeler in 1967 [New York Times Photo] I took a course in Honors Physics from Wheeler when I was a sophomore at Princeton in 1972-73. The very first lecture began by explaining how the least action principle arises from constructive interference in the Feynman sum over histories. “An electron wants to go from point A to point B. But how does it know what path to follow? It follows all the paths, and adds them together, weighted by eiS, blah, blah.” Though edifying, this explanation did not help us do the homework (problems from Goldstein, Classical Mechanics). The World of Science, by Jane Werner Watson, published 1958, based on interviews with Caltech faculty. This is my copy, purchased in 1962 when I was 9. The chapter on theoretical physics describes the discovery of parity violation in nuclear beta decay, which I found tremendously exciting. (See QuantumFrontiers.com, 2013) Feynman stories, just the way Feynman told them. Many interviews (see end notes for sources). Feynman remembered by Wheeler, Bethe, Dyson, Brown, Schwinger, Gell-Mann, Bjorken, Pines, Goodstein, Cohen, Goldberger, Hillis, Rigden, Telegdi, Joan Feynman. Feynman remembered by Hey, Foreword by Thorne and JP, informed by Hopfield, Mead, Sussman. interviews/correspondence with: Bardeen, Deser, DeWitt, Fowler, Frautschi, Hartle, Iben, Kraichnan, Misner, Peebles, Sandage. Physics Today April 2005 My arrival at Caltech in August 1983 Someone is drumming on the wall while walking down the hallway. I realize it must be Feynman, and stumble out of my office, hoping to say hello. -
Richard Feynman at 100 Feynman Diagrams and Beyond
Richard Feynman at 100 Feynman Diagrams and Beyond Lance Dixon (SLAC) Galileo’s Villa, Arcetri November 9, 2018 Before Feynman, there was Galileo • Renaissance man, theorist and experimenter Also found in Pisa: L. Dixon Feynman at 100 @ Galileo's Villa Arcetri 9 Nov. 2018 2 L. Dixon Feynman at 100 @ Galileo's Villa Arcetri 9 Nov. 2018 3 Feynman also a Renaissance man • Besides his science, Feynman also left a legacy in art “At least as good as Rembrandt’s physics” - Curt Callan L. Dixon Feynman at 100 @ Galileo's Villa Arcetri 9 Nov. 2018 4 Outline • Feynman, Feynman diagrams and QED • Feynman and early QCD • Feynman and the weak interactions • Feynman and quantum gravity • Feynman and biology L. Dixon Feynman at 100 @ Galileo's Villa Arcetri 9 Nov. 2018 5 Feynman’s revolutionary insights into scattering of quantum particles were initially for Quantum ElectroDynamics Theory of how electrons interact with the particles associated with light or electromagnetism = photons The most precise theory of all – good to a part per trillion! L. Dixon Feynman at 100 @ Galileo's Villa Arcetri 9 Nov. 2018 6 Shelter Island, June 1947 Lamb Schwinger NAS Darrow Uhlenbeck Bohm Archives Marshak Weisskopf Oppenheimer Pais Feshbach Feynman Dirac theory of electron incomplete: • Willis Lamb reports on Lamb shift between 2S and 2P hydrogen • Isadore Rabi reports on electron anomaly [Nafe, Nelson, Rabi] L. Dixon Feynman at 100 @ Galileo's Villa Arcetri 9 Nov. 2018 7 Feynman’s thesis work birthplace of the path integral ~ How Feynman introduced quantum mechanics to us Caltech undergrads in 1979 L.