Great!
Dr. Feynman was a great instructor. He made complicated things seem easy to learn albeit you had to have some knowledge about the subject.
What we know and what we don't know
In Six Easy Pieces, Feynman describes the basic ideas of physics, how physics relates to other sciences, what physicists mean by "energy", how quantum physics relates to everyday physics, and how gravity works.
Why does an apple fall from the tree when its stem can't hold its weight anymore? Why does the moon go around the earth and the earth around the sun?
Feynman doesn't really tell us anything we don't know when he says that gravity is the thing that causes the apple to fall and the moon to orbit the earth. But he describes gravity a little further and explains that the force of gravity between two masses is described by the product of the mass of the two interacting objects divided by the square of the distance, and the result multiplied by a number called G, the Gravitational Constant, equal to 0.0000000000667426.
So far so good, but still textbook stuff. But why does G have this particular value? Feynman bluntly answers that we don't know. And there lies the value of the book: he gives the boundary between what we can and cannot know. And that's OK. Physics is about understanding how nature works rather than why it's there.
Vincent Poirier, Tokyo
The Essentials of Everything
Having read several excellent books about Dr. Richard Feynman, and his critical insights into modern science as well as his lively personality and unorthodox way of thinking, I thought I should do him justice and read his own words about his ideas and vision of the world. He is as spectacular as I hoped. I read a chapter every morning and feel greatly enriched by that daily experience.
Great Teacher, Great Mind
Dr. Feynman makes the basic principles of physics accessible to the layman. I read this several years ago while in the middle of research on different topic. After finishing Mr. Gleick's biography the other day, I pulled my copy down and re-read and passed to one of my children---taking undergrad physics. Feynman reduces his science to the easily explainable---all the while admitting where scientists do not understand. His "Lectures on Physics" should arrive soon, and will be my winter project (and maybe sooner).
Highly recommended---and if you haven't read his book QED---another gem."
Fascinating and Enduring Explanations of Physics Concepts
"Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics By Its Most Brilliant Teacher," a collection of lectures given by the Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman, offers a fascinating overview of six major concepts in the field of physics. While the lectures underlying the content of this work were delivered in the early 1960s, the material is enduring and is presented in a clear, lucid, and engaging manner.
I listened to all of the material underlying this book (the lectures themselves), which I highly recommend to anyone interested in getting a "front row seat" to some of the most celebrated lectures in physics.
The content covered by Feynman in "Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics By Its Most Brilliant Teacher" is straightforward and basic enough for meaningful consumption by a broad audience. Some exposure to mathematics, physics, and/or science in general will offer good context for the material covered by Feynman, but such exposure is not necessary to enjoy and appreciate this fine book.
I highly recommend this book to any and all readers/listeners with an interest in "seeing" physics through the eyes of one of the 20th century's most celebrated scientists.
(62 reviews)
