- #1
infidel
- 56
- 0
I went to a book signing tonight for a new volume of letters to and from Richard Feynman entitled Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track.
The book is edited by Michelle Feynman, Richard's daughter. She gave a brief introduction to the book and then read several of the letters. Then she answered a few questions before commencing to sign the books.
She was a beautiful, intelligent, and well-spoken woman who obviously loves her father and was, as she said, surprised and touched by many of the letters. As she points out, most of his popular 'works' stem from the spoken word, either lectures or anecdotes. Here we see Feynman writing, and well.
I had a lot of fun and she took time to talk a bit to each of the 20 or so people who came up for a signing. She asked me if I was a physicist (!). I told her no, but that her father was an intellectual hero of mine for many years. She signed the book, "To Dan, From your hero's daughter. Best wishes. Michelle Feynman." Very nice.
Well since I got home I've read about 100 pages of the book, all through the Los Alamos era. Very interesting and highly recommended to Feynman fans. Others might find it a bit too esoteric. One thing that always touched me about Feynman was the fateful story of his love for his first wife, Arline, and her struggle with and eventual death due to TB. This period comes out beautifully in the book. (For more on that, rent the fabulous movie Infinity, about this period of his life.)
You can find dates for other signings at http://www.basicfeynman.com, including "authorless events" where instead of Michelle, a panel of Feynman's friends and co-workers will talk about his legacy. I'm attending one in NYC on May 2 which includes Freeman Dyson.
The book is edited by Michelle Feynman, Richard's daughter. She gave a brief introduction to the book and then read several of the letters. Then she answered a few questions before commencing to sign the books.
She was a beautiful, intelligent, and well-spoken woman who obviously loves her father and was, as she said, surprised and touched by many of the letters. As she points out, most of his popular 'works' stem from the spoken word, either lectures or anecdotes. Here we see Feynman writing, and well.
I had a lot of fun and she took time to talk a bit to each of the 20 or so people who came up for a signing. She asked me if I was a physicist (!). I told her no, but that her father was an intellectual hero of mine for many years. She signed the book, "To Dan, From your hero's daughter. Best wishes. Michelle Feynman." Very nice.
Well since I got home I've read about 100 pages of the book, all through the Los Alamos era. Very interesting and highly recommended to Feynman fans. Others might find it a bit too esoteric. One thing that always touched me about Feynman was the fateful story of his love for his first wife, Arline, and her struggle with and eventual death due to TB. This period comes out beautifully in the book. (For more on that, rent the fabulous movie Infinity, about this period of his life.)
You can find dates for other signings at http://www.basicfeynman.com, including "authorless events" where instead of Michelle, a panel of Feynman's friends and co-workers will talk about his legacy. I'm attending one in NYC on May 2 which includes Freeman Dyson.