The Meaning of IT All (Allen Lane Science S.) - Hardcover

Feynman, Richard P.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0713992514 ISBN 13: 9780713992519

Publisher: Allen Lane, 1998

Synopsis

Three recently discovered lectures from the sixties in which Richard Feynman addresses a captivated and non-scientific audience. Here Feynman engages with the questions that most inspired and troubled him. Beginning by asking what is the value of science, Feynman goes on to address various related questions: can scientific views by reconciled with religious beliefs? Why in this supposedly scientific age is there such widespread fascination with flying saucers, astrology and Martin invasion? Howdoes the media betray the public? What is the value of doubt? These remarkable and compelling lectures present Feynman at his most brilliant, passionate and entertaining.

About this title

Review:

The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen Scientist collects three previously unpublished lectures by Richard Feynman, probably the greatest popularizer of physics in this century. There's plenty of scientific illumination here for the general reader, and more remarkably, some fantastic ruminations on the relationships between 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's 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

Synopsis:

This text presents three recently discovered public lectures from the 60s in which Feynman addresses a non-scientific audience. Feynman attempts to engage an audience with the questions that most inspired and troubled him. Beginning by asking what is the value of science, Feynman goes on to address various related questions: can scientific views be reconciled with religious beliefs? Why in this supposedly scientific age is there such widespread fascination with flying saucers, astrology and martian invasions? How does the media betray the public? What is the value of doubt?

About this edition

• Publisher: Allen Lane
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0713992514
• ISBN 13: 9780713992519
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 160