THE MEANING OF IT ALL: THOUGHTS OF A CITIZEN- SCIENTIST PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Richard P. Feynman | 144 pages | 06 Apr 2005 | The Perseus Books Group | 9780465023943 | English | New York, United States [PDF] [EPUB] The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist Download That is indeed difficult. Whether the result is a good thing or a bad thing depends on how it is used, but the power is a value. When this objective view is finally attained, and the mystery and majesty of matter are fully appreciated, to then turn the objective eye back on man viewed as matter, to view life as part of this universal mystery of greatest depth, is to sense an experience which is very rare, and very exciting. It usually ends in laughter and a delight in the futility of trying to understand what this atom in the universe is, this thing—atoms with curiosity—that looks at itself and wonders why it wonders. Well, these scientific views end in awe and mystery, lost at the edge in uncertainty, but they appear to be so deep and so impressive that the theory that it is all arranged as a stage for God to watch man's struggle for good and evil seems inadequate. Some will tell me that I have just described a religious experience. Very well, you may call it what you will. Then, in that language I would say that the young man's religious experience is of such a kind that he finds the religion of his church inadequate to describe, to encompass that kind of experience. The God of the church isn't big enough. I do not know what they mean. I always live without knowing. That is easy. How you get to know is what I want to know. And they were so serious in this matter that they insisted that the rest of the world agree with them. And then they would do things that were directly inconsistent with their own beliefs in order to maintain that what they said was true. In the temple a man said, "I am going to tell you something that you will never forget. The same key opens the gates of hell. Earn up to 5x points when you use your eBay Mastercard. Learn more. Any international shipping is paid in part to Pitney Bowes Inc. Learn More - opens in a new window or tab International shipping and import charges paid to Pitney Bowes Inc. Learn More - opens in a new window or tab Any international shipping and import charges are paid in part to Pitney Bowes Inc. Learn More - opens in a new window or tab Any international shipping is paid in part to Pitney Bowes Inc. Learn More - opens in a new window or tab. Related sponsored items Feedback on our suggestions - Related sponsored items. Last one. Report item - opens in a new window or tab. Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing. Item specifics Condition: Very Good: A book that does not look new and has been read but is in excellent condition. No obvious damage to the cover, with the dust jacket if applicable included for hard covers. May be very minimal identifying marks on the inside cover. Very minimal wear and tear. See all condition definitions - opens in a new window or tab Read more about the condition. Shipping and handling. The seller has not specified a shipping method to Germany. Contact the seller - opens in a new window or tab and request shipping to your location. Shipping cost cannot be calculated. Please enter a valid ZIP Code. Shipping to: United States. No additional import charges at delivery! This item will be shipped through the Global Shipping Program and includes international tracking. Learn more - opens in a new window or tab. My guess is that he was either winking at the audience when he said that laughing at his own provincialism , or that he simply misspoke. In either case, though this error is trivial and irrelevant, its inclusion will, I suspect, give some readers an excuse to dismiss his arguments as products of ignorance. My recommendation to all but the most die-hard completists is to skip The Meaning of it all and instead pick up Surely You're Joking Mr. Surely You're Joking QED and The Character of Physical Law are by far the deepest and yet the most accessible math-free science books that I've ever come across. Jun 20, Katie rated it it was amazing Shelves: science. What a wonderful, quick, fascinating read. I'd say this is my new manifesto if the idea of having a manifesto didn't go against nearly everything inside. This is the first thing I've read by Richard Feynman and I'm very excited to read more. He's clearly one of those people who is talented at everything, and could have been a celebrated poet or an economist if he didn't become a physicist instead. I'm a little surprised to see some many reviews here that suggest that this collection of lectures i What a wonderful, quick, fascinating read. I'm a little surprised to see some many reviews here that suggest that this collection of lectures is scattershot or unfocused. Feynman jumps around from example to example, but the whole thing works really well as a celebration of uncertainty and openness. I liked this, because I think uncertainty is a hugely undervalued trait at least in American society, I can't speak for elsewhere. It's often see as a sign of weakness or cowardice, which is silly: it's often difficult and frightening to remain undecided about something, and requires a good deal of personal strength and questioning. But Feynman notes that this indecision is hugely valuable, in science and beyond: it's the only way to discover new questions and new possibilities and it keeps the world open to change and growth. These lectures are permeated with a kind of cautious idealism that I found to be really attractive. You could read through it in an afternoon, and I highly recommend it. View 1 comment. Richard Feynman was something else. He summarizes the curious, scientific worldview like no other. There are 3 lectures by Feynman here that he presented in Seattle, WA in the early 60s, about , I think. Personally, Feynman was far more of a hoot than Dawkins. IOW, he's the finest kind of scientist. The lectures are about the Unce There are 3 lectures by Feynman here that he presented in Seattle, WA in the early 60s, about , I think. The lectures are about the Uncertainty of Science. His main points here are that we shouldn't be looking for politicians with the answers, but those with the best plan to obtain the answers. Religion should be subject to verifiable scrutiny just like everything else. Of course, more than likely they couldn't, but there is a possibility. The third is about a variety of subjects; what society looks like to him. This was by far the best. I really like his idea that we should change our arguments into discussions about goals. He says he really likes the goals of the Pope, but doesn't like how he arrived at them. Highly recommended. The only reason I'm not giving it 5 stars is there isn't much that's new. I respect Mr Feynman's intelligence and skill as a lecturer. His reputation makes me feel bad about giving this book only two stars. But this book isn't his best work. The three lectures in this book were given in It's interesting to speculate how his speech would be different if given today. In the lectures may have seemed more cutting edge. I was particularly interested in what he had to say about the relationship between religion and science. Well, he did a fine job describing the I respect Mr Feynman's intelligence and skill as a lecturer. Well, he did a fine job describing the conflict between religion and science. Then he asked the question, "How can religion and science coexist without being a threat to each other? But I was disappointed. One interesting thing he said is that there are some scientists who believe in God, but there aren't very many who have an image of God that matches that of their parents. Of course that's true of many non-scientists too. Jan 31, Anupam Ranku rated it really liked it. Reading Richard Feynman's book is always entertaining. This book consists of a transcript of three lectures. I think listening to the lectures would have been more fun. Some notable lines: - Keep trying new solutions is the way to do everything. What a wonderful world! And yet today we find, by playing with these things, that we have a tremendous amount of machinery inside. Yet science is still not thoroughly appreciated. How can an observation be incorrect? If it has been carefully checked, how can it be wrong? Why are physicists always having to change the laws? The answer is, first, that the laws are not the observation and, second, that experiments are always inaccurate. The laws are guessed laws, extrapolations, not something that the observations insist upon. They are just good guesses that have gone through the sieve so far. Laws are extrapolations into the unknown. All scientific knowledge is uncertain. This experiments with doubt and uncertainty are important. I believe that it is of very great value and one that extends beyond the sciences.