The Curious Mr. Feynman

From the Manhattan Project to the Challenger investigation, the physicist Richard Feynman loved to shoot down what he called “lousy ideas.” Today, the world is awash in lousy ideas — so maybe it’s time to get some more Feynman in our lives? (Part one of a three-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • Helen Czerski, physicist and oceanographer at University College London.
  • Michelle Feynman, school administrator and daughter of Richard Feynman.
  • Ralph Leighton, biographer and film producer.
  • Charles Mann, science journalist and author.
  • John Preskill, professor of theoretical physics at the California Institute of Technology.
  • Stephen Wolfram, founder and C.E.O. of Wolfram Research; creator of Mathematica, Wolfram|Alpha, and the Wolfram Language.

• RESOURCES:
  • "How Legendary Physicist Richard Feynman Helped Crack the Case on the Challenger Disaster," by Kevin Cook (Literary Hub, 2021).
  • Challenger: The Final Flight, docuseries (2020).
  • Truth, Lies, and O-Rings: Inside the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster, by Allan J. McDonald and James R. Hansen (2009).
  • Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track: Selected Letters of Richard P. Feynman, edited by Michelle Feynman (2005).
  • The Pleasure of Finding Things Out, by Richard Feynman (1999).
  • Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman, by James Gleick (1992).
  • “What Do You Care What Other People Think?” by Richard Feynman and Ralph Leighton (1988).
  • "Mr. Feynman Goes to Washington," by Richard Feynman and Ralph Leighton (Engineering & Science, 1987).
  • The Second Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Twentieth-century Physics, by Robert Crease and Charles Mann (1986).
  • Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!, by Richard Feynman and Ralph Leighton (1985).
  • "The Pleasure of Finding Things Out," (Horizon S18.E9, 1981).
  • "Los Alamos From Below," by Richard Feynman (UC Santa Barbara lecture, 1975).
  • "The World from Another Point of View," (PBS Nova, 1973).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Exploring Physics, from Eggshells to Oceans," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2023).