Six Easy Pieces by Richard Feynman

'If one book was all that could be passed on to the next generation of scientists it would undoubtedly have to be Six Easy Pieces' 

New Scientist

'If you're a Physics geek you can't beat Six Easy Pieces.'
Miss Ottey 

An outstanding communicator, Richard P. Feynman inspired a generation of students with his energetic, unorthodox style of teaching. Drawn from his celebrated and landmark text Lectures on Physics, Six Easy Pieces reveals Feynman's distinctive style while introducing the essentials of physics to the general reader. The topics explored include atoms, the fundamentals of physics and its relation to other sciences, the theory of gravitation and quantum behaviour.

Six Easy Pieces is a compilation of six of Dr. Feynman’s lectures all dealing with the easier aspects of physics.  These lectures come from the famous Lectures on Physics that contains all of the lectures that Dr. Feynman used to teach his students at Caltech University.  Feynman was different from most physics teachers of his time, he was a revolutionary; he taught an approach that was less mathematical and more theoretical, but many feel he makes it easier to learn the concepts.  His diagrams, famous throughout the science world, detail his every word and give visual assistance to the struggling student. 

As the book progresses from chapter to chapter, Feynman takes the reader deeper into the heart of physics, while still relating each concept to something that the general public will understand.  His use of analogies and thorough explanation makes the material easier to comprehend.  Still, the book is by no means easy reading; only through careful analysis and attentiveness was I able to grasp the messages that Feynman was attempting to convey.  In the sixth chapter, “Quantum Behavior,” Feynman gives the reader a taste of his passion, as he expounds on the field with which he devoted much of his career to. 

Obviously, Feynman wanted to use this novel to educate the minds of people who have some interest in the field of science.  He wanted to give the reader a taste of what physics has to offer; he does not intend to teach the reader everything about physics, even he says that there is too much material to teach it all to a student in even four years of college.  Still, there is more than enough information for the reader to gain a general idea of what can be learned through physics,

About the Author

Richard P. Feynman was one of this century's most brilliant and original thinkers.

He taught at Cornell and the California Institute of Technology and received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in quantum electrodynamics. He was born in 1918 in Brooklyn; in 1942 he received his Ph.D. from Princeton.

Already displaying his brilliance, Feynman played an important role in the development of the atomic bomb through his work in the Manhattan Project.  In 1945 he became a physics teacher at Cornell University, and in 1950 he became a professor at the California Institute of Technology.  He, along with Sin-Itero and Julian Schwinger, received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965 for his work in the field of quantum electrodynamics.

Another great achievement of Dr. Feynman’s was the creation of a mathematical theory that accounts for the phenomenon of super fluidity in liquid helium.  Along with Murray Gell-Mann, Feynman did fundamental work with weak interactions like beta decay.  Years later, Dr. Feynman was an important part of the development of quark theory by putting forward his parton model of high-energy proton collision processes. 

Furthermore, Dr. Feynman introduced new computational techniques and notations into physics, most importantly, the Feynman diagrams that perhaps more than any formality in recent scientific history, have altered how basic processes of physics are calculated and conceptualized. Feynman was considered a superb teacher, and received many awards and honors, the one he admired most being the Oersted Medal for Teaching, which was awarded to him in 1972.  Critics and fellow scientists around the world held many of his publications in high esteem, and his some of his works were written for the general public, so that all people might have an opportunity to grasp the basic concepts of physics.  His more advanced writings have become important assets to researchers and students; some of his works have even made their way into textbooks.

Another of his most famous contributions is his work in the Challenger investigation when it crashed in 1986.  His notorious demonstration of the O-rings to cold was during this research, an experiment that required no more than a glass of ice water.  However, less known to the public was Feynman’s efforts on the California State Curriculum Committee in the 1960’s when he fought against the mediocrity of current textbooks.  Sadly, Richard Feynman died on February 15, 1988, in Los Angeles. 

To find out more about the author click here to go to the site dedicated to furthering his work...

In this fun and informative video archive of the BBC television program Horizon, we see physicist Richard Feynman's quick, sharp wit, his devotion to his work, and his unwillingness to bow to social pressure or convention.

The Pleasure of Finding Things Out (1 of 5) by theobservereffect

Six Not-So-Easy Pieces by Richard Feynman

'Feynman's lectures are like Mozart's symphonies. The more demanding they are, the more exhilarating the result. Hearing the Master's voice and rereading these magnificent lectures is one of the great rewards for being scientifically literate at the end of the twentieth century.' David L. Goodstein 

These SIX NOT-SO-EASY PIECES are drawn from Feynman's celebrated introductory course of lectures on physics. They delve into the most revolutionary discovery of twentieth-century physics: Einstein's theory of relativity.

'In these lectures everything you've ever heard about Feynman's wit and genius comes true.' John Horgan

Six Not-So-Easy Pieces makes learning physics a joyful experience!

Richard P. Feynman was more than a Nobel Prize-winning physicist; he was a prankster, a wit, and one of the greatest science teachers of all time.

In this second collection of his Caltech lectures, he brings the difficult, anti-intuitive theories of Einstein down to earth for the science student and science-conscious layperson.

When it comes to explaining science, nobody does it better than Feynman. Or the Alleyn's School Physics Department...

About the Author

'This is the stuff of A-level Physics and beyond. Happy, happy days. I'm excited just thinking about it!' Miss Ottey

Richard P. Feynman was one of this century's most brilliant and original thinkers.

He taught at Cornell and the California Institute of Technology and received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in quantum electrodynamics. He was born in 1918 in Brooklyn; in 1942 he received his Ph.D. from Princeton.

Already displaying his brilliance, Feynman played an important role in the development of the atomic bomb through his work in the Manhattan Project.  In 1945 he became a physics teacher at Cornell University, and in 1950 he became a professor at the California Institute of Technology.  He, along with Sin-Itero and Julian Schwinger, received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965 for his work in the field of quantum electrodynamics.

Another great achievement of Dr. Feynman’s was the creation of a mathematical theory that accounts for the phenomenon of super fluidity in liquid helium.  Along with Murray Gell-Mann, Feynman did fundamental work with weak interactions like beta decay.  Years later, Dr. Feynman was an important part of the development of quark theory by putting forward his parton model of high-energy proton collision processes. 

Furthermore, Dr. Feynman introduced new computational techniques and notations into physics, most importantly, the Feynman diagrams that perhaps more than any formality in recent scientific history, have altered how basic processes of physics are calculated and conceptualized. Feynman was considered a superb teacher, and received many awards and honors, the one he admired most being the Oersted Medal for Teaching, which was awarded to him in 1972.  Critics and fellow scientists around the world held many of his publications in high esteem, and his some of his works were written for the general public, so that all people might have an opportunity to grasp the basic concepts of physics.  His more advanced writings have become important assets to researchers and students; some of his works have even made their way into textbooks.

Another of his most famous contributions is his work in the Challenger investigation when it crashed in 1986.  His notorious demonstration of the O-rings to cold was during this research, an experiment that required no more than a glass of ice water.  However, less known to the public was Feynman’s efforts on the California State Curriculum Committee in the 1960’s when he fought against the mediocrity of current textbooks. Richard Feynman died on February 15, 1988, in Los Angeles. 

To find out more about the author click here to go to the site dedicated to furthering his work...

In this fun and informative video archive of the BBC television program Horizon, we see physicist Richard Feynman's quick, sharp wit, his devotion to his work, and his unwillingness to bow to social pressure or convention.

Feynman's work lives on in quantum physics, computer design, and nanotechnology; like any great scientist, he asked more questions than he answered, to give future generations the pleasure of finding things out.

The Pleasure of Finding Things Out (1 of 5) by theobservereffect

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

'Lucid, thoughtful and, above all, entertaining.'

The Scotsman

'This most enjoyable of books ... A travelogue of science, with a witty, engaging, and well-informed guide.'

The Times

'...fantastic [it] should be read by every GCSE student as they move from Year 10 to 11. It should be the law. Fact. A combination of all three Sciences - but the Physics, particularly Fundamental Particles (quarks, leptons, bosons) and the Astrophysics is particularly well explained...I love it.'

Miss Ottey

The legions of fans who buy Bill Bryson's travel books and voted him a favourite author for World Book Day won't quite know what to make of the amiable traveller's latest offering. Transworld has dubbed it "for all those who couldn't understand A Brief History of Time" (and on that basis, if they all buy a copy it will be an instant bestseller). Bryson applies his naturally enquiring mind and his way with words which is both informative and entertaining, to "understand and appreciate, marvel at, enjoy even, the wonder and accomplishments of science at a level that isn't too technical or demanding, but isn't entirely superficial either". This is popular science in the true meaning of the phrase and repays diligent reading.

What on earth is Bill Bryson doing writing a book of popular science - A Short History of Almost Everything? Largely, it appears, because this inquisitive, much-travelled writer realised, while flying over the Pacific, that he was entirely ignorant of the processes that created, populated and continue to maintain the vast body of water beneath him.

In fact, it dawned on him that "I didn't know the first thing about the only planet I was ever going to live on". The questions multiplied: What is a quark? How can anybody know how much the Earth weighs? How can astrophysicists (or whoever) claim to describe what happened in the first gazillionth of a nanosecond after the Big Bang? Why can't earthquakes be predicted? What makes evolution more plausible than any other theory? In the end, all these boiled down to a single question--how do scientists do science? To this subject Bryson devoted three years of his life, reading books and journals and pestering the people who know (or at least argue about it); and we non-scientists should be pretty grateful to him for passing his findings on to us.

Broadly, his investigations deal with seven topics, all of enormous interest and significance: the origins of the universe; the gradual historical discovery of the size and age of the earth (and the beginnings of the awesome notion of deep time); relativity and quantum theory; the present and future threats to life and the planet; the origins and history of life (dinosaurs, mass extinctions and all); and the evolution of man. Within each of these, he looks at the history of the subject, its development into a modern discipline and the frameworks of theory that now support it. This is a pretty broad brief (life, the universe and everything, in fact), and it's a mark of Bryson's skill that he is able to carve a clear path through the thickets of theory and controversy that infest all these disciplines, all the while maintaining a cracking pace and a fairly judicious tone without obvious longueurs or signs of haste. Even readers fairly familiar with some or all of these areas o! f discourse are likely to learn from A Short History. If not, they will at least be amused--the tone throughout is agreeable, mingling genuine awe with a mild facetiousness that often rises to wit.

One compelling theme that appears again and again is the utter unpredictability of the universe, despite all that we think we know about it. Nervous page-turners may care to omit the sensational chapters on the possible ways in which it all might end in disaster--Bryson enumerates with cheerful relish the kind of event that makes you want to climb under the bedclothes: undetectable asteroid colliding with the earth; superheated magma chamber erupting in your back garden; ebola carrier getting off a plane in London or New York; the HIV virus mutating to prevent its destruction in the mosquito's digestive system. Indeed, the chief theme of this sprightly book is the miraculous unlikeliness, in a universe ruled by randomness, of stability and equilibrium--of which one result is ourselves and the complex, fragile planet we inhabit. Robin Davidson

Here's an excerpt from the opening chapter:

HOW TO BUILD A UNIVERSE

NO MATTER HOW hard you try you will never be able to grasp just how tiny, how spatially unassuming, is a proton. It is just way too small.

A proton is an infinitesimal part of an atom, which is itself of course an insubstantial thing. Protons are so small that a little dib of ink like the dot on this i can hold something in the region of 500,000,000,000 of them, rather more than the number of seconds contained in half a million years. So protons are exceedingly microscopic, to say the very least.

Now imagine if you can (and of course you can't) shrinking one of those protons down to a billionth of its normal size into a space so small that it would make a proton look enormous. Now pack into that tiny, tiny space about an ounce of matter. Excellent. You are ready to start a universe.

I'm assuming of course that you wish to build an inflationary universe. If you'd prefer instead to build a more old-fashioned, standard Big Bang universe, you'll need additional materials. In fact, you will need to gather up everything there is--every last mote and particle of matter between here and the edge of creation—and squeeze it into a spot so infinitesimally compact that it has no dimensions at all. It is known as a singularity.

In either case, get ready for a really big bang. Naturally, you will wish to retire to a safe place to observe the spectacle. Unfortunately, there is nowhere to retire to because outside the singularity there is no where. When the universe begins to expand, it won't be spreading out to fill a larger emptiness. The only space that exists is the space it creates as it goes.

It is natural but wrong to visualize the singularity as a kind of pregnant dot hanging in a dark, boundless void. But there is no space, no darkness. The singularity has no "around" around it. There is no space for it to occupy, no place for it to be. We can't even ask how long it has been there—whether it has just lately popped into being, like a good idea, or whether it has been there forever, quietly awaiting the right moment. Time doesn't exist. There is no past for it to emerge from.

And so, from nothing, our universe begins.


About the Author

Bill Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1951. Settled in England for many years, he moved to America with his wife and four children for a few years ,but has since returned to live in the UK. His bestselling travel books, include The Lost Continent, Notes From a Small Island, A Walk in the Woods and Down Under. His mammoth work of popular science, A Short History of Nearly Everything, was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize, and won the Aventis Prize and the Descartes Prize. His latest book is A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail.

To find out more click here to link to the author's comprehensive website...

And here's an excerpt from a presentation Bryson gave to Gresham College where he discusses some of the ideas contained in this book.