atyy said:
The lectures are actually pretty unfriendly as an introduction to physics - I think it'd be difficult to appreciate them without first knowing say Halliday and Resnick.
I disagree with this statement personally and on behalf of the thousands of 1960's and '70's Caltech alumni who used FLP as their textbook in the two-year Introductory Physics course required of all Caltech undergraduates. That FLP is unsuitable as an introduction to physics is a popular misconception, about which you can read more http://www.feynmanlectures.info/popular_misconceptions_about_FLP.
The lectures also have a few techincal [sic] errors (that are not misprints).
In recent years (starting with the Definitive Edition in 2005) FLP has undergone a process of revision by which ~1200 corrections to errata have been made, thus far, including a few errors in physics, and many errors in mathematics. If you are aware of any outstanding errors in FLP not listed in http://www.feynmanlectures.info/flp_errata.html, please use the email address found on http://www.feynmanlectures.info/contact.html to write to us about them.
On the other hand, I agree with what DiracPool wrote:
DiracPool said:
What sets Feynman apart in my mind is not so much his technical prowess as it is his love of the subject. Here is somebody who truly loves what he does and has a passion that is infectious and, most importantly, incorruptable. You can see the gleen in his eyes when he dissects these physics problems.
Only I would add two things: (1) that Feynman's technical prowess and his scope were very impressive indeed, in and of themselves (leading Hans Bethe to label him "a magician"), and (2) that Feynman was a showman. He loved to put on a good performance. His undergraduate lectures were carefully scripted and (what most people do not know:) rehearsed! Here is how Matt Sands describes what attending the lectures was like, in his memoir,
On the Origins of The Feynman Lectures on Physics in the book "Feynman's Tips on Physics."
Feynman would appear five minutes or so before the scheduled start of the lecture. He would take out of his shirt pocket one or two small pieces of paper—perhaps five by nine inches—unfold them, and smooth them out at the center of the lecture bench at the front of the lecture hall. These were his notes for his lecture, though he rarely referred to them. (A photo reproduced at the beginning of FLP Chapter 19 of Volume II shows Feynman during one of his lectures, standing behind the lecture bench, with two sheets of notes visible on the bench.) As soon as the bell would ring, announcing the start of the official class period, he would start his lecture. Each lecture was a carefully scripted, dramatic production, which he had, clearly, planned in detail—usually with an introduction, development, climax, and denouement. And his timing was most impressive. Only very rarely would he finish more than a fraction of a minute before or after the end of the hour. Even the use of the chalk boards at the front of the lecture hall appeared to be carefully choreographed. He would begin at the upper left of board number one on the left, and at the end of the lecture would have just completely filled board two on the far right.
So, another thing that sets FLP apart from other physics lectures is that they were intended to be
entertaining, and they really are!
Mike Gottlieb
Editor, The Feynman Lectures on Physics New Millennium Edition
