A review by david_reads_books
Feynman's Rainbow: A Search for Beauty in Physics and in Life by Leonard Mlodinow
2.0
Nope! This is not the book to inspire you to go into physics. Too much morbidity talking about Feynman's cancer and imminent death. The book revolves around the author as a new prof at Caltech, with Nobel winners Richard Feynman and Murray Gell-Mann down the hall from his office in 1981. Feynman was already past his cancer life-expectancy, yet in another five years (1986) diagnosed the Challenger accident, and did not die until Feb 1988. This book sounded like the author was going to be the last physicist on Earth to befriend one of the greatest physicist that has ever lived.
The "Further Reading" listed on a single page in the back of the book is superior, and I've read most of these. So I did not gain any more wisdom into physical processes, and that includes the quantum optics that the author finally chose to dive into. All the physics in this book was very layman/superficial in discussion.
I was not happy with the open discussion of the politics and rumors that go on between competing scientists. It surely happens, but there was just too much of it in this book. The book had a very unedited feel to it. I found grammatical errors, typos, paragraphs that obviously should have been broken at least in half, and discontinuity in the flow of the text (multiple pages on a single conversation, followed by large time segments going by in subsequent paragraphs).
I did like hearing about the Babylonian/Greek, spouse-like squabling between Richard Feynman (the Babylonian pragmatist needing application) with Murray Gell-Mann (the Greek organizer of elegant theories). The interplay of professor John Schwarz and his love for String Theory finally played out to String Theory winning many new minds for study.
But Schwarz is derided too much in this text. Mlodinow even plays-down a former professor who believed greatly in his talents, that visited him, and wanted Mlodinow to get on with his research.
It took a long time to finally hear the inspirational voice of Feynman. Page 119
"How's your work coming?" he (Feynman) asked.
I shrugged. "It's not really coming." I wished I was like Constantine. It all came so easily to him.
"Le me ask you something. Think back to when you were a kid. For you, that isn't going too far back. When you were a kid, did you love science? Was it your passion?"
I nodded. "As long as I can remember."
"Me, Too," he said. "Remember, it's supposed to be fun." And he walked on.
Two pages later...
Hanging around a grown kid like Feynman made you question things.
While the author, Leonard Mlodinow, was smart enough to walk into Caltech with his new PhD with full reign to do anything he wanted, he spent a year feeling very out-of-place among giants in both the faculty and students at Caltech. This feeling of inadequacy was fully conveyed from cover to cover in this book.
I really was hoping for more of the inspiration that Feynman can give. Even the author completely changed his major early in life because of Feynman. Mlodinow was a double-major Chem/Math. His 'advanced' physics course in high school was dry and boring. Mlodinow found Frynman's "The Character of Physical Law" and his 3-volume lectures during the Yom Kippur War in Israel. When he returned to Chicago, he was converted to Physics.
I recently read "A Mathematical Universe" by Max Tegmark at MIT. He too read Feynman, and changed his major from Finance to Physics. Tegmark is renowned today in his field. Even I myself credit reading Feynman with my return to college after over a decade and a half working in engineering to get my Masters in Physics. I have seen physics articles citing many members of the US Physics team (yes, this really exists and competes internationally) that constantly credit Feynman for their love of Physics.
This book hints at the respect for Feynman, but you will have to read these other texts to want inspiration to quit your major/career, and dive into Physics:
This was a NY Times Bestseller. It reads like an adventure novel:
[b:"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character|35167685|"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" Adventures of a Curious Character|Richard P. Feynman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1504936953l/35167685._SX50_.jpg|321174]
How can one man know this much?!!
[b:The Feynman Lectures on Physics|5546|The Feynman Lectures on Physics|Richard P. Feynman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1433168047l/5546._SX50_.jpg|314848]
Also fully available here: https://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/
[b:Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics By Its Most Brilliant Teacher|5553|Six Easy Pieces Essentials of Physics By Its Most Brilliant Teacher|Richard P. Feynman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1400827293l/5553._SY75_.jpg|736922]
This Six Easy Pieces are just six of the easier (yet VERY informative) lectures within the Feynman Lecture series
These words are from recorded lectures - distinctly Feynman in his common sense Queens NY vernacular.
[b:The Character of Physical Law|291920|The Character of Physical Law|Richard P. Feynman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347507304l/291920._SY75_.jpg|1223311]
Full biography!
[b:Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman|98685|Genius The Life and Science of Richard Feynman|James Gleick|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320409497l/98685._SY75_.jpg|191828]
My favorite 'Goldilocks' book on Physicists - not just a couple paragraphs, nor a book-length bio on each person, but very strong in the facts needed to include them in such a book.
[b:Great Physicists: The Life and Times of Leading Physicists from Galileo to Hawking|321329|Great Physicists The Life and Times of Leading Physicists from Galileo to Hawking|William H. Cropper|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347928303l/321329._SX50_.jpg|312061]
Feynman is Ch 25: "What Do You Care?"
This slim book uncovers the door to his Nobel Prize
[b:QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter|5552|QED The Strange Theory of Light and Matter|Richard P. Feynman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386920718l/5552._SY75_.jpg|4099794]
Feynman's name appears throughout this fantastic book.
[b:The Discoveries: Great Breakthroughs in 20th-Century Science, Including the Original Papers|16796|The Discoveries Great Breakthroughs in 20th-Century Science, Including the Original Papers|Alan Lightman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320450221l/16796._SY75_.jpg|2202926]
If you are brand new with physics, start here. The bibliography is an additional gold-mine
[b:A Short History of Nearly Everything|21|A Short History of Nearly Everything|Bill Bryson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1433086293l/21._SY75_.jpg|2305997]
Clear(est) explanation of String Theory
[b:The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory|8049273|The Elegant Universe Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory|Brian Greene|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348791881l/8049273._SX50_.jpg|907243]
The "Further Reading" listed on a single page in the back of the book is superior, and I've read most of these. So I did not gain any more wisdom into physical processes, and that includes the quantum optics that the author finally chose to dive into. All the physics in this book was very layman/superficial in discussion.
I was not happy with the open discussion of the politics and rumors that go on between competing scientists. It surely happens, but there was just too much of it in this book. The book had a very unedited feel to it. I found grammatical errors, typos, paragraphs that obviously should have been broken at least in half, and discontinuity in the flow of the text (multiple pages on a single conversation, followed by large time segments going by in subsequent paragraphs).
I did like hearing about the Babylonian/Greek, spouse-like squabling between Richard Feynman (the Babylonian pragmatist needing application) with Murray Gell-Mann (the Greek organizer of elegant theories). The interplay of professor John Schwarz and his love for String Theory finally played out to String Theory winning many new minds for study.
But Schwarz is derided too much in this text. Mlodinow even plays-down a former professor who believed greatly in his talents, that visited him, and wanted Mlodinow to get on with his research.
It took a long time to finally hear the inspirational voice of Feynman. Page 119
"How's your work coming?" he (Feynman) asked.
I shrugged. "It's not really coming." I wished I was like Constantine. It all came so easily to him.
"Le me ask you something. Think back to when you were a kid. For you, that isn't going too far back. When you were a kid, did you love science? Was it your passion?"
I nodded. "As long as I can remember."
"Me, Too," he said. "Remember, it's supposed to be fun." And he walked on.
Two pages later...
Hanging around a grown kid like Feynman made you question things.
While the author, Leonard Mlodinow, was smart enough to walk into Caltech with his new PhD with full reign to do anything he wanted, he spent a year feeling very out-of-place among giants in both the faculty and students at Caltech. This feeling of inadequacy was fully conveyed from cover to cover in this book.
I really was hoping for more of the inspiration that Feynman can give. Even the author completely changed his major early in life because of Feynman. Mlodinow was a double-major Chem/Math. His 'advanced' physics course in high school was dry and boring. Mlodinow found Frynman's "The Character of Physical Law" and his 3-volume lectures during the Yom Kippur War in Israel. When he returned to Chicago, he was converted to Physics.
I recently read "A Mathematical Universe" by Max Tegmark at MIT. He too read Feynman, and changed his major from Finance to Physics. Tegmark is renowned today in his field. Even I myself credit reading Feynman with my return to college after over a decade and a half working in engineering to get my Masters in Physics. I have seen physics articles citing many members of the US Physics team (yes, this really exists and competes internationally) that constantly credit Feynman for their love of Physics.
This book hints at the respect for Feynman, but you will have to read these other texts to want inspiration to quit your major/career, and dive into Physics:
This was a NY Times Bestseller. It reads like an adventure novel:
[b:"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character|35167685|"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" Adventures of a Curious Character|Richard P. Feynman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1504936953l/35167685._SX50_.jpg|321174]
How can one man know this much?!!
[b:The Feynman Lectures on Physics|5546|The Feynman Lectures on Physics|Richard P. Feynman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1433168047l/5546._SX50_.jpg|314848]
Also fully available here: https://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/
[b:Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics By Its Most Brilliant Teacher|5553|Six Easy Pieces Essentials of Physics By Its Most Brilliant Teacher|Richard P. Feynman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1400827293l/5553._SY75_.jpg|736922]
This Six Easy Pieces are just six of the easier (yet VERY informative) lectures within the Feynman Lecture series
These words are from recorded lectures - distinctly Feynman in his common sense Queens NY vernacular.
[b:The Character of Physical Law|291920|The Character of Physical Law|Richard P. Feynman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347507304l/291920._SY75_.jpg|1223311]
Full biography!
[b:Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman|98685|Genius The Life and Science of Richard Feynman|James Gleick|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320409497l/98685._SY75_.jpg|191828]
My favorite 'Goldilocks' book on Physicists - not just a couple paragraphs, nor a book-length bio on each person, but very strong in the facts needed to include them in such a book.
[b:Great Physicists: The Life and Times of Leading Physicists from Galileo to Hawking|321329|Great Physicists The Life and Times of Leading Physicists from Galileo to Hawking|William H. Cropper|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347928303l/321329._SX50_.jpg|312061]
Feynman is Ch 25: "What Do You Care?"
This slim book uncovers the door to his Nobel Prize
[b:QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter|5552|QED The Strange Theory of Light and Matter|Richard P. Feynman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386920718l/5552._SY75_.jpg|4099794]
Feynman's name appears throughout this fantastic book.
[b:The Discoveries: Great Breakthroughs in 20th-Century Science, Including the Original Papers|16796|The Discoveries Great Breakthroughs in 20th-Century Science, Including the Original Papers|Alan Lightman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320450221l/16796._SY75_.jpg|2202926]
If you are brand new with physics, start here. The bibliography is an additional gold-mine
[b:A Short History of Nearly Everything|21|A Short History of Nearly Everything|Bill Bryson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1433086293l/21._SY75_.jpg|2305997]
Clear(est) explanation of String Theory
[b:The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory|8049273|The Elegant Universe Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory|Brian Greene|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348791881l/8049273._SX50_.jpg|907243]