What Do You Care What Other People Think?: Further Adventures of a Curious… (original 1988; edition 1989)

This audio CD of Feynman's second collection of autobiographical bits is a lot of fun to listen to. The part about the President's Commission on the Challenger Shuttle disaster was very powerful and wryly funny. Feynman was such a scientist, so intent of finding things out that he simply ignored the conventions, if he was even aware of them, and his wide-eyed, naive search for answers was always a delight. The only part of this book I didn't like is the appendix- which was the entire Feynman report on the shuttle disaster. In all its dry, NASA acronym-laden ponderousness, written by a theoretical physicist for consumption by engineers. That didn't make for interesting listening. That's a minor quibble, and I recommend this without reservation. ( )

After reading “Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman“, I could not wait for this follow-up. Unfortunately, this book scrapes the barrel of Feynman-related adventures and it shows — most stories look like they were rejected for the first book. Though the Challenger disaster investigation events as experienced by Feynman could be a great idea on paper, the “plot“ feels stretched a lot, with way too much pointless detail. Unfortunately, this “detective story“ fills half of the book. Though Feynman remains a bright and smart man, the book just doesn't appear to reflect that as it did in “Surely”; we sure miss the wits a lot. ( )

המשך זכרונותיו של פיינמן. מגרד קצת את תחתית החבית.​ פרט למסמך העיקרי, שהוא דיווח השתתפותו של פיינמן ב​ועדה לחקר אסון מעבורת החלל. כאשר מדען ופוליטיקאים ​נפגשים - עפים ניצוצות. רלוונטי מאוד לעשיה שלנו.​ ( )

All the scientists I know are fond of Feynman's books. I think it is because we recognize ourselves in the enthusiasm and curiosity he has for science - and for anything in nature. The 2 books ("Surely, you're joking, Mr Feynman" and "What do you care what other people think") are collections of stories told by Richard Feynman and collected by his friend Ralph Leighton. There is no science in these books, just stories told with an inimitable sense of humor and sense of style. At the same time, these stories are unique: they tell you how a scientist thinks.
I tagged "What do you care.." as a "life changing book" for two reasons. First, it does encourage you to do things your own way. Second, it shows a way out when you are prisoner of a system. Feynman became a member of a commission in charge of discovering the reasons of the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle in 1986. As usual, there was the official aim (find the cause) and the political view (let us support NASA); this happens in science more than you would imagine. You find yourself in committees that are supposed to do one thing, but in fact do something else. It can be very frustrating. Feynman found a way to do what he thought was right. You got to read this: it tells you how you can win against all odds. ( )

Excellent abridgement of the larger book "Classic Feynman". ( )