Feynman's Physics.
A legendary work, like its author, 1965 Nobel Prize winner for the theory of quantum electrodynamics: Feynman’s Physics. A three-volume course (five tomes in the previous bilingual edition, English original with Italian translation opposite), based on lectures given at California Polytechnic Institute (CalTech) by Richard Feynman from 1961 to 1963 for freshmen in the science and engineering short degree programs, but open to all faculty. A team of physicists and Ph.D. students, led by Robert Leighton and Matthew Sands, then converted the audio recordings and notes into a handbook, published in 1965. Many topics are covered in innovative ways, and with a clarity and depth unique in such texts. As a teaching experiment it was a half disaster, Feynman wanted to renew the teaching of the subject, and keep students’ interest alive with modern and advanced ideas, and clarify the relationship of physics with mathematics and other sciences. But most students in the bachelor’s degree understood almost nothing about it, only those in the master’s and master’s degrees followed the lectures to the end. But after all, “[t]he power of teaching is very limited except in the rare cases where it is practically superfluous” (Ed Gibbon, historian of the Roman empire quoted by Feynman in the preface.) But it is a must-read for anyone who really wants to know what Physics is, according to a 2013 review for the new millenium edition in the journal Nature, the work after so many years continues to soar for “simplicity, beauty, unity…presented with enthusiasm and insight.” All physics students consulted it at least once during the first two years of the course, some even to learn English with the bilingual edition (I used it for that as well, along with Enrico Persico’s booklet, “Guide to Reading Technical English”). The printed and translated edition is rather expensive, but there is an excellent free online version in English, revised and corrected for the new millennium : https://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/
- vol. I mechanics, radiation (waves) and heat (thermodynamics)
- vol. II electromagnetism and matter
- vol. III quantum mechanics Years later 4 more lectures were found, collected in: Gottlieb, Leighton - Feynman’s Tips on Physics (2005) Finally, a final lost lecture, on the solar system, was in included in “Feynman’s Lost Lecture: The Motion of Planets Around the Sun” by David Goodstein, Judith Goodstein. I had the honor and pleasure of meeting in Rome with the authors of this latest text, David Goodstein was vice chancellor of CalTech and author of many well-known texts (e.g., States of Matter with the mythical incipit), his wife Judith is involved in the history of science. Given the value of the course over time, many ancillary and complementary volumes have been published to make it easier to understand for lower-middle level students, and for ordinary mortals scared of physics lectures. For example:
- Feynman et al. - Feynman’s Tips on Physics: Reflections, Advice, Insights, Practice (2013)
- Feynman et al. - Exercises for the Feynman Lectures on Physics (2014) Exercises to test learning
- Hee C. Lim - Mathematical Derivation for Vol. II of the Feynman Lectures on Physics, Parts 1/2 & 2/2 (2021)
- Hee C. Lim - Mathematical Derivation for Vol. III of the Feynman Lectures on Physics (2021) All demonstrations explained in detail without skipping steps or taking anything for granted or obvious. Robert Piccioni - Feynman Simplified, vol. 1 - 14, a series of no less than fourteen ebooks to explain and comment on Feynman’s lectures, including:
- 4A Math for Physicists (step-by-step review of all necessary math)
- 4B: The Best of Feynman (main ideas and formulas synthesized) [Prof. Robert Piccioni Jr. is the son of Italian particle physicist Oreste Piccioni, who moved to the U.S. to teach at UCSD (University of California at San Diego) after the famous experiment in Rome with Conversi and Pancini.] #feynman1965 #physics #modernphysics #physics1 #physics2
One cannot fail to mention the autobiography “Are You Kidding Mr. Feynman?” which contributed to the creation of the myth, the live TV appearance on the Challenger Disaster Inquiry Commission, which made him famous to the general public, and the biographies of James Gleick (Genie) and Lawrence Krauss ( The Quantum Man).
https://www.iltascabile.com/scienze/richard-feynman-citazioni/
https://ilmanifesto.it/la-fisica-irriverente-di-richard-feynman-2
https://www.iltascabile.com/scienze/feynman-mito/
https://www.focus.it/scienza/scienze/richard-feynman-storia
Orange Juice Suite for bongos, featuring Bob Leighton’s brother Ralph. https://youtu.be/2Ks8gsK22PA
https://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/