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Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen…
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Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen Scientist (Helix Books) (original 1998; edition 1999)

by Richard Phillips Feynman

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1,915278,617 (3.85)10
Many appreciate Richard P. Feynman’s contributions to twentieth-century physics, but few realize how engaged he was with the world around him--how deeply and thoughtfully he considered the religious, political, and social issues of his day. Now, a wonderful book--based on a previously unpublished, three-part public lecture he gave at the University of Washington in 1963--shows us this other side of Feynman, as he expounds on the inherent conflict between science and religion, people’s distrust of politicians, and our universal fascination with flying saucers, faith healing, and mental telepathy. Here we see Feynman in top form: nearly bursting into a Navajo war chant, then pressing for an overhaul of the English language (if you want to know why Johnny can’t read, just look at the spelling of "friend”); and, finally, ruminating on the death of his first wife from tuberculosis. This is quintessential Feynman--reflective, amusing, and ever enlightening.… (more)
Member:anindg
Title:Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen Scientist (Helix Books)
Authors:Richard Phillips Feynman
Info:Perseus Books Group (1999), Paperback, 133 pages
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The Meaning of it All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist by Richard Feynman (1998)

  1. 10
    The Meaning of Life: A Very Short Introduction by Terry Eagleton (Bill-once)
    Bill-once: Fulfillment
  2. 11
    The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener by Martin Gardner (bertilak)
  3. 00
    Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology by Neil Postman (themulhern)
    themulhern: Both are thoughtful books by smart people. They intersect in their impatience with the pretensions of the social sciences.
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» See also 10 mentions

English (25)  Hungarian (1)  Italian (1)  All languages (27)
Showing 1-5 of 25 (next | show all)
[Italiano]

Una lettura breve e facile. Feyman esprime i suoi pensieri in modo molto perspicace. Va dritto al punto. Questo è uno di quei libri che ho sempre voluto rileggere. La seconda volta però, il voto si è un pò abbassato. Comincia molto bene, ma la fine è un pochino fuori tema.

[English]

Tiny and easy reading. Feynman has a clever way to express his thoughts. He goes to the point. This is one of those books that I have wanted to re-read. Second time, rating goes down a bit. It start really really good, but the end is a little bit off topic. ( )
  giacomomanta | Aug 23, 2022 |
My wife told me about a movie she watched (The Challenger Disaster (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2421662/)) late one night that covered the investigation regarding the space shuttle Challenger. She said the lead technical person in the investigation was this interesting scientist, who I later found out was Richard Feynman. Luckily, my wife had recorded the movie as well as a small documentary of this "scientist". After watching both pieces, I was amazed I'd never heard of this man, but was so glad that she'd shown these movies to me.

About the book. The only reason I gave this book 3 stars, is because I struggled with the delivery of the speech being transcribed in print. I've seen videos of Mr. Feynman before, and found him lively and amazing and the way he speaks just didn't work for me in print. The topics were right on the money though and I would recommend this book to anyone who finds Mr. Feynman as amazing as I do or if they want to hear perspectives on topics such as religion, politics, etc., put forth by a brilliant mind.

( )
  btbell_lt | Aug 1, 2022 |
"The Pleasure of Finding Things Out" includes everything in this book, so I recommend reading that instead, especially since this is the more boring parts of it. ( )
  mvolz | Jul 10, 2022 |
Feynman mint figura régóta érdekel, viszont a fizika mint tudomány meglehetősen távol áll tőlem – alighanem a törés kettőnk viszonyában középiskolai tanulmányaim során mélyült el, amikor is az egyébként imádni való és igazán karakteres Szűcs tanár úr kezei alá/közé kerültem. Tőle amúgy sok mindent megtanultam – például azt, hogyan kell finoman aktuálpolitikai kérdésekkel akár fél órát is lelopni a fizikaórából, valamint azt, miképpen feleltessünk tíz-tizenöt embert uszkve tíz perc alatt. (Villámkérdésekkel. A Szűcs-féle villámkérdéses módszer amúgy is meglehetősen hírhedt volt, különösen mert a villámkérdések nem korlátozódtak sótlanul a fizikatudományra, hanem elkalandoztak egyéb vadászmezőkre is. Lásd: "Egy heted hét hány tized évtized?") Amit nem sajátítottam el – az a fizika. Igen, azt hiszem, akkor veszített el a kvantumfizika egy potenciális tudóst személyemben. (Hogy a matematika, a biológia, a kémia, a testnevelés vagy az ének-zene hogyan vesztegetett el ebben az időszakban egy esetleges héroszt, arról hajh! mesélhetnék… de nem fogok.) És erre meglátom a könyvtárban ezt a könyvet – Feynman-előadások, amelyek nem a fizikáról szólnak! Csúcs! Mi ez, ha nem isteni jel? Ám olvasgatván a könyvet, egyre inkább az a benyomásom támadt, hogy ha isteni jel volt is, hogy e mű elém került, nem azt akarta jelezni Isten általa, amit beleértettem… hiába, az isteni jelek dekódolásában nem segít semmiféle Google Translate. Merthogy ez a könyv – nem jó.

Először is azért nem jó, mert nem jó a fordítás. Biztos vagyok benne, hogy Dr. Ill Márton nagyszerű tudós és kiváló tudományszervező (volt, sajnos) – de az a helyzet, hogy a fordításhoz nem ilyesféle képességek kellenek. Hanem érzék a megfelelő szórend és a kontextushoz illő magyar kifejezések megtalálásához. Gondolom én. Enélkül ugyanis az eredendően (feltételezem) gördülékeny angol szöveg rohadtul nem gördülékeny, magyartalan magyar szöveggé változik. Tegyük még hozzá, hogy a kötet szövegei tulajdonképpen az élőbeszéd – három egyetemi előadás – hangulatát kívánják átadni, ami viszont így, ebben a köntösben hol butácskának, hol csapongónak, hol erőltetettnek hat. Jó, persze mindent nem lehet a fordításra fogni – az is igaz, hogy ha megpróbálok leásni a magyarításon túlra, akkor sem sejlik fel túl sok érték a szövegben: sok korlátozottan kihagyhatatlan példa és kellőképpen nem kifejtett fejtegetés, valamint az a mélységesen igaz, de nem újszerű állítás, hogy a tudomány alapja a kételkedés. Úgyhogy ha legközelebb valami isteni jelet látok-hallok jártamban-keltemben, mielőtt reagálok rá, visszakérdezek, hogy tényleg jól értettem-e. ( )
  Kuszma | Jul 2, 2022 |
the first two parts were inspiring and nicely written, but the last part read too much like an impromptu speech to be easily understood ( )
  jeff_nicholas | Apr 19, 2022 |
Showing 1-5 of 25 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (2 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Richard Feynmanprimary authorall editionscalculated
Todd, RaymondNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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I want to address myself directly to the impact of science on man's ideas in other fields, a subject Mr. John Danz particularly wanted to be discussed. In the first of these lectures I will talk about the nature of science and emphasize particularly the existence of doubt and uncertainty. In the second lecture I will discuss the impact of scientific views on political questions, in particular the question of national enemies, and on religious questions. And in the third lecture I will describe how society looks to me -- I could say how society looks to a scientific man, but it is only how it looks to me -- and what future scientific discoveries may produce in terms of social problems.
Quotations
This freedom to doubt is an important matter in the sciences, and, I believe, in other fields. It was born of a struggle... I want to demand this freedom for future generations.
Russia is backward because it has not learned that there is a limit to government power.
No government has the right to decide on the truth of scientific principles, nor to prescribe in any way the character of the questions investigated. Neither may a government determine the aesthetic value of artistic creations, nor limit the forms of literary or artistic expression.
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Wikipedia in English (4)

Many appreciate Richard P. Feynman’s contributions to twentieth-century physics, but few realize how engaged he was with the world around him--how deeply and thoughtfully he considered the religious, political, and social issues of his day. Now, a wonderful book--based on a previously unpublished, three-part public lecture he gave at the University of Washington in 1963--shows us this other side of Feynman, as he expounds on the inherent conflict between science and religion, people’s distrust of politicians, and our universal fascination with flying saucers, faith healing, and mental telepathy. Here we see Feynman in top form: nearly bursting into a Navajo war chant, then pressing for an overhaul of the English language (if you want to know why Johnny can’t read, just look at the spelling of "friend”); and, finally, ruminating on the death of his first wife from tuberculosis. This is quintessential Feynman--reflective, amusing, and ever enlightening.

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Penguin Australia

An edition of this book was published by Penguin Australia.

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