Six Not-So-Easy Pieces: Einstein's Relativity, Symmetry, and Space-Time - Richard Feynman

No twentieth-century American scientist is better known to a wider spectrum of people than Richard P. Feynman (19181988)physicist, teacher, author, and cultural icon. His autobiographies and biographies have been read and enjoyed by millions of readers around the world, while his wit and eccentricities have made him the subject of TV specials and even a theatrical film. The spectacular reception of the book and audio versions of Feynmans Six Easy Pieces (published in 1995) resulted in a worldwide clamor for More Feynman! More Feynman! The outcome is these six additional lectures, drawn from the celebrated three-volume Lectures on Physics. Though slightly more challenging than the first six, these lectures are more focused, delving into the most revolutionary discovery in twentieth-century physics: Einsteins Theory of Relativity. No single breakthrough in twentieth-century physics (with the possible exception of quantum mechanics) changed our view of the world more than that of Einsteins discovery of relativity. The notions that the flow of time is not a constant, that the mass of an object depends on its velocity, and that the speed of light is a constant no matter what the motion of the observer, at first seemed shocking to scientists and laymen alike. But, as Feynman shows so clearly and so entertainingly in the lectures chosen for this volume, these crazy notions are no mere dry principles of physics, but are things of beauty and elegance. No onenot even Einstein himselfexplained these difficult, anti-intuitive concepts more clearly, or with more verve and gusto, than Richard Feynman.

Published: 2005-04-06 (Basic Books)

ISBN: 9780465023936

Language: English

Format: Paperback, 184 pages

Goodreads' rating: -

Genres

Science Nonfiction Physics Popular Science

Reviews

Jeniece rated it

I learned that there are somethings I cannot grasp and sometimes these things are not understandable by most people. I am one of them when it comes to this book. However, the main thing is that I learned that this man was unique in that he was brilliant and could teach also. A most commendable combination in any person....plus he had a sense of humour! I honor the man even though I did not understand most of the book.

Kippie rated it

Hilaaa diya!!!

Madel rated it

Not a hard read because it's broken up into small chunks, but hard to absorb--heavy on derivations which are sometimes interesting but require a lot of brainpower. Hopefully though continued exposure I absorb just a little at a time. Did have some fun re-revelations about relativity.

Parsifal rated it

What a phenomenal exposition of the mysteries of science..

Reggie rated it

"Not so easy" is right! Feynman designed these lectures so that, he hoped, physics non-majors would be able to grasp the concepts, while majors would get a sense of the excitement of physics and maintain their interest.There is a lot of math in the book, but one can ignore most of it (as I did), and try to understand the ideas from Feynman's very clear and simple language. But, simple as Feynman's language is, these concepts are hard for even a smart person to get his or her head around. We have grown up in a 3-dimensional world that we understand somewhat, and it's not easy to grasp relativity, curved space, of space-time, let alone curved space-time. I did my best, and Feynman is always a joy to read, but I probably won't remember much about these topics tomorrow.