The Meaning of it All (Allen Lane History S.) - Softcover

Feynman, Richard P

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140276351 ISBN 13: 9780140276350

Publisher: Penguin, 1999

Synopsis

What is science and what is its true value? Can a scientist believe in God? Why, in this supposedly scientific age, is there such widespread fascination with flying saucers, faith healing, astrology and alien invasion? Can there be such a thing as a satisfactory philosophy of ignorance?

At the peak of his career, maverick genius Richard Feynman gave three public lectures addressing the questions that most inspired and troubled him. Covering everything from the atomic bomb to ethics, the imagination to the meaning of life, they are brought together in this provocative and hugely entertaining volume.

About this title

Review:

The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen Scientist collects three previously unpublished lectures by Richard Feynman, who is probably the greatest populariser of physics in this century. There is plenty of scientific illumination here for the general reader, and more remarkably, some fantastic ruminations on the relationships among science, religion, politics, and everyday life. Feynman is especially sensitive to the relationships between scientific scepticism, faithful doubt and ideological flexibility. These lectures have been transcribed verbatim, so they sometimes ramble and repeat themselves. But this slim volume has wisdom and wit on every page: it is a truly erudite and edifying meditation on Dostoevsky's observation that "There lies more faith in honest doubt, believe me, than in half the creeds". --Michael Joseph Gross

About the Author:

'He is everything you want and expect a scientist to be: charming, sceptical, funny, blindingly intelligent ... confirms one’s suspicion that Feynman was probably the coolest scientist who ever lived’ Guardian

One of the world's greatest theoretical physicists and a Nobel laureate, Richard Feynman was also a man who fell, often jumped, into adventure. An artist, safe-cracker, practical joker and storyteller, his life was a series of combustible combinations made possible by his unique mixture of high intelligence, unquenchable curiosity and eternal scepticism.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0140276351
• ISBN 13: 9780140276350
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 144