Great reminder that sane people once walked the earth. Speaking of Nobel Laureates, I'm reminded of Luc Montaignier, who shortly before he died expressed severe skepticism at all the Covid hysteria. And of course there's Kary Mullins. Feynman would no doubt be appalled at how deeply scientific integrity has been compromised these days. It's rather poignant somehow to imagine him on the 9/11 investigation--a cold day in hell before they would let someone like him in the room. Thanks again for your thoughts!
I would rather have questions that cannot be answered, than answers that cannot be questioned. That about sums it up for me. We are so far from Feynman's great saying.
Feynman was both brilliant and down-to-earth, a regular guy who fooled around and went out with the boys and embraced popular culture. His opposite number at Harvard was Julian Schwinger who shared the 1965 Nobel with Feynman. Schwinger was cultured and refined and well-read, an intellectual's intellectual
They both had independently invented quantum electrodynamics 17 years earlier. Schwinger explained everything with path integrals using propagating delta functions. Feynman drew squiggly lines on a piece of paper. Needless to say, everyone preferred the Feynman formalism, because it came with pictures they could understand. But which of them was correct?
A young grad student named Freeman Dyson traveled out to California to spend a few weeks with Feynman and learn the details of how he translated his pictures into equations. Then he spent a few weeks with Schwinger, absorbing Schwinger's methodology. He went home and wrote a paper in which he demonstrated that, though the two formalisms looked completely different, they always gave the same answer.
Dyson hated the formal requirements of schools and course materials. He learned in his own way. The Institute for Advanced Study gave him a permanent appointment where he could hang out with Einstein and Oppenheimer and the gang, and he never had to get a PhD.
I learned quantum mechanics from Schwinger when I was at Harvard, and though I have great reverence for the man, I never understood his lectures. Dyson was a personal hero of mine, and he lived well into his 90s, and continued to write in his brilliantly independent way about social issues connected to science until 2020.
“Intellectual Tyranny in the name of Science” is a descriptor for Tony Fauci. It’s the official MO as 9/11 and the pandemic response show. Great piece and a pleasure to hear about Feynman and open scientific debate.
I’m so glad you brought up that magisterial moment as the NASA experts droned on when Feynman dropped the O-ring material in his glass of ice water and concluded instantly that it stiffened when it became cold.
I’ve read all his books too, including “The Character of Physical Law” and am both awed and charmed by his wonderful mind and the fierce joy with which he hungered and thirsted for the truth.
It’s an amazing thought to imagine what he would have included about the events of 9/11 and the COVID plandemic.
It's an enticing and haunting hypothetical / counterfactual that made me think about how the late, great Paul Volcker, whom I did have the honour to meet, supported Obama's Presidential campaign and was brought on at the beginning of the new Obama Administration as a special advisor.
Volcker quietly left not long after. It's safe to say his wise advice, whatever it may have been, was completely ignored by Obama.
I have a feeling that Richard Feynman, feisty as he was, would have made more noise on his way to the exit.
I agree completely. Feynman's blood would have boiled upon hearing Peter Hotez say, "Science isn't up for discussion".
When Feynman neared completion of his physics degree and it was time to apply to graduate programs, he told the department Chairman he wanted to stay at MIT. He was told, "We would rather you go elsewhere" which must have been a shock to the outstanding student. When he was told why- that they prefer their graduates to go elsewhere to get a different perspective- he was ok with it. They sent him down to Princeton. Incidentally, that still went on at MIT when I was there. When I asked Dr. Victor Weisskopf what I should do and where should I go, He said, "You're a theoretical physicist. Chicago or Princeton would be good matches for you." What a sweet man he was...
A funny story about Dr. Weiskopf directing me away from experimental physics; I originally posted it on Quora when someone asked what was the hardest course for me at MIT.
The hardest was Junior physics lab. I had absolutely no clue. I went to a high school that had no calculus or physics and only took one semester of science; chemistry second-semester senior year. We didn’t have a lab.
We had to reproduce Nobel Prize-winning experiments like the Michelson-Morley Experiment and I was totally lost. I had no clue about recording measurements, error, apparatus, how to code, how an oscilloscope worked, etc.. I was feeling really bad one day but we had to build some part of the apparatus and I tried it. The professor walked by and said: “Let me see that!”. I said: “I’m sorry Professor Weisskopf (It was Victor Weisskopf, a giant in modern physics). I don’t know what I’m doing..” He took my creation around and showed the other professors and grad students.. I’m thinking to myself: “ Oh God, what an embarrassment…” After making the rounds, he brought it back to me. I said: “I’ll try to do better next time, Sir.” He said: “Nobody could do better than that, including my graduate students. It's beautiful. It’s a work of art.” I can’t begin to tell you how that made me feel at the time.
“Surely you’re joking Mr. Feynman” I read that book many years ago, perhaps early 90s, and I loved it. It’s time I read it again. Thank you for writing about Feynman and wondering how he would have approached an investigation into 911. Good thoughts! I look forward to your posts. 🙏🏼😊
I ran this by my physicist friend Nick Herbert, who commented: "The world could certainly benefit from more men like Richard Feynman. But such individuals are like Kryptonite to the Empire of Lies."
when i was a physics student i would dip into the feynman books to get the alternative 'better' way to see what the professor was *trying* to teach. really a brilliant man and, more rarely, a brilliant teacher.
thank you for this lovely encomium. and the sharp quotations i've copied over for future use.
Interesting...I didn't realize that he was the same age as my grandfather who was on the other side of the planet (Pacific theater) in combat when Fenyman was on the Manhattan project.
Great reminder that sane people once walked the earth. Speaking of Nobel Laureates, I'm reminded of Luc Montaignier, who shortly before he died expressed severe skepticism at all the Covid hysteria. And of course there's Kary Mullins. Feynman would no doubt be appalled at how deeply scientific integrity has been compromised these days. It's rather poignant somehow to imagine him on the 9/11 investigation--a cold day in hell before they would let someone like him in the room. Thanks again for your thoughts!
I would rather have questions that cannot be answered, than answers that cannot be questioned. That about sums it up for me. We are so far from Feynman's great saying.
I suspect Feynmann would appreciate your panegyric, if not for his own sake then for the scientific integrity we so desperately need today.
Feynman was both brilliant and down-to-earth, a regular guy who fooled around and went out with the boys and embraced popular culture. His opposite number at Harvard was Julian Schwinger who shared the 1965 Nobel with Feynman. Schwinger was cultured and refined and well-read, an intellectual's intellectual
They both had independently invented quantum electrodynamics 17 years earlier. Schwinger explained everything with path integrals using propagating delta functions. Feynman drew squiggly lines on a piece of paper. Needless to say, everyone preferred the Feynman formalism, because it came with pictures they could understand. But which of them was correct?
A young grad student named Freeman Dyson traveled out to California to spend a few weeks with Feynman and learn the details of how he translated his pictures into equations. Then he spent a few weeks with Schwinger, absorbing Schwinger's methodology. He went home and wrote a paper in which he demonstrated that, though the two formalisms looked completely different, they always gave the same answer.
Dyson hated the formal requirements of schools and course materials. He learned in his own way. The Institute for Advanced Study gave him a permanent appointment where he could hang out with Einstein and Oppenheimer and the gang, and he never had to get a PhD.
I learned quantum mechanics from Schwinger when I was at Harvard, and though I have great reverence for the man, I never understood his lectures. Dyson was a personal hero of mine, and he lived well into his 90s, and continued to write in his brilliantly independent way about social issues connected to science until 2020.
“Intellectual Tyranny in the name of Science” is a descriptor for Tony Fauci. It’s the official MO as 9/11 and the pandemic response show. Great piece and a pleasure to hear about Feynman and open scientific debate.
I’m so glad you brought up that magisterial moment as the NASA experts droned on when Feynman dropped the O-ring material in his glass of ice water and concluded instantly that it stiffened when it became cold.
I’ve read all his books too, including “The Character of Physical Law” and am both awed and charmed by his wonderful mind and the fierce joy with which he hungered and thirsted for the truth.
It’s an amazing thought to imagine what he would have included about the events of 9/11 and the COVID plandemic.
It's an enticing and haunting hypothetical / counterfactual that made me think about how the late, great Paul Volcker, whom I did have the honour to meet, supported Obama's Presidential campaign and was brought on at the beginning of the new Obama Administration as a special advisor.
Volcker quietly left not long after. It's safe to say his wise advice, whatever it may have been, was completely ignored by Obama.
I have a feeling that Richard Feynman, feisty as he was, would have made more noise on his way to the exit.
I agree completely. Feynman's blood would have boiled upon hearing Peter Hotez say, "Science isn't up for discussion".
When Feynman neared completion of his physics degree and it was time to apply to graduate programs, he told the department Chairman he wanted to stay at MIT. He was told, "We would rather you go elsewhere" which must have been a shock to the outstanding student. When he was told why- that they prefer their graduates to go elsewhere to get a different perspective- he was ok with it. They sent him down to Princeton. Incidentally, that still went on at MIT when I was there. When I asked Dr. Victor Weisskopf what I should do and where should I go, He said, "You're a theoretical physicist. Chicago or Princeton would be good matches for you." What a sweet man he was...
A funny story about Dr. Weiskopf directing me away from experimental physics; I originally posted it on Quora when someone asked what was the hardest course for me at MIT.
The hardest was Junior physics lab. I had absolutely no clue. I went to a high school that had no calculus or physics and only took one semester of science; chemistry second-semester senior year. We didn’t have a lab.
We had to reproduce Nobel Prize-winning experiments like the Michelson-Morley Experiment and I was totally lost. I had no clue about recording measurements, error, apparatus, how to code, how an oscilloscope worked, etc.. I was feeling really bad one day but we had to build some part of the apparatus and I tried it. The professor walked by and said: “Let me see that!”. I said: “I’m sorry Professor Weisskopf (It was Victor Weisskopf, a giant in modern physics). I don’t know what I’m doing..” He took my creation around and showed the other professors and grad students.. I’m thinking to myself: “ Oh God, what an embarrassment…” After making the rounds, he brought it back to me. I said: “I’ll try to do better next time, Sir.” He said: “Nobody could do better than that, including my graduate students. It's beautiful. It’s a work of art.” I can’t begin to tell you how that made me feel at the time.
“Surely you’re joking Mr. Feynman” I read that book many years ago, perhaps early 90s, and I loved it. It’s time I read it again. Thank you for writing about Feynman and wondering how he would have approached an investigation into 911. Good thoughts! I look forward to your posts. 🙏🏼😊
Thank you MS - a powerful & informative article ...
If you haven't see this clip, it's arguably the best way to understand Feynman in just 2 minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWr39Q9vBgo
Fascinating article
I ran this by my physicist friend Nick Herbert, who commented: "The world could certainly benefit from more men like Richard Feynman. But such individuals are like Kryptonite to the Empire of Lies."
when i was a physics student i would dip into the feynman books to get the alternative 'better' way to see what the professor was *trying* to teach. really a brilliant man and, more rarely, a brilliant teacher.
thank you for this lovely encomium. and the sharp quotations i've copied over for future use.
Oh and I didn't need to be a medical professional to know that taking the vaxx was / is a bad idea.
Interesting...I didn't realize that he was the same age as my grandfather who was on the other side of the planet (Pacific theater) in combat when Fenyman was on the Manhattan project.
Full of shit indeed they were, all those on that there 911 commission.