a quick, breezy read ( )

This is a short, lovely reminiscence about the author's encounters with Richard Feynman (along with Murray Gell-Mann, Stephen Wolfram, and John Schwarz) while working as a postdoc at Caltech in the early 1980s. It's a nice addition to the voluminous biographical literature on Feynman. ( )

Short but interesting chronicle of a young physicist's mentor-apprentice relationship with his hero (the nobel prize winning physics genious Richard Feynman.) ( )

From the library of Anthony De La Puente, a true story of a young scholar and his experiences with his hero Richard Feynman. At times hokey, this book is saved by being true-to-life to its characters. Feynman has no desire to be an inspiration, a mentor, or the person who figures things out for other people. He’s above such pop psychology, yet Mlodinow still manages to find a whole lot of the above from his encounters with Feynman. Or maybe it all comes from himself as Feynman says? All in all, a good book about the timeless (and tired) themes of appreciating beauty in everyday life and being true to yourself. This book would make a good movie.

“The creative mind has a vast attic. That homework problem you did in college, that intriguing but seemingly pointless paper you spent a week deciphering as a postdoc, that offhand remark from a colleague, all are stored in hope chests somewhere in the creative person’s brain, often to be picked through and applied to the subconscious at the most unexpected moments. It is part of the creative process that transcends physics.” (p. 82)

“I thought, you don’t need cancer to die. It could come just like that, from a moment of carelessness. You get into the car. You are terminally ill, but you don’t even know it until the last moment when you are slamming the brakes.” (p. 148) ( )

My favourite passage:

"Feynman asked him what theory that was. The man described it briefly. He seemed peeved at the end that no one was impressed. I felt that just for listening politely we should have all been awarded a prize from the give-dumb-theories-equal-time movement, of which I was certain he must have been a member." (pp. 94-5) ( )