High Energy Phenomena and Meson Theories. Notes on a Course Given. at the California Institute of Technology

Feynman, Richard

Published by Pasadena, California, 1951

About this Item

Mimeographed leaves printed rectos only, [1], 84 pp. 4to (275 x 207 mm). A rare mimeographed set of lecture notes made by students of Richard Feynman very early in his academic career, preceding the famous Lectures on Physics by over a decade. The notes provide crucial documentation of Feynman's interest in particle physics subsequent to the completion of his theory of quantum electrodynamics, and are a major source for understanding the evolution of Feynman diagrams. Copies of this particular lecture series and, indeed, any recorded notes from Feynman's early career are uncommon. He had not yet won the Nobel Prize nor published a work of popular science; few were aware of his growing reputation. Copies of such notes were printed in very small numbers for distribution among students and colleagues, and it is widely accepted that many were discarded later. We know of only two lecture series published earlier than High Energy Phenomena and Meson Theories. The series Quantum Electrodynamics was delivered at Cornell in autumn 1949, with notes prepared by H. L. Brode: no copies are listed by WorldCat or Library Hub, none are recorded at auction, and one copy has been traced in private hands ("copy in the possession of Sam Schweber", the American theoretical physicist; Kaiser 2004, p. 915). The series Quantum Electrodynamics and Meson Theories was delivered at Caltech from 6 February to 2 March 1950, with notes prepared by Carl W. Holstrom and Malvin A. Ruderman: no copies are listed by WorldCat or Library Hub, none are recorded at auction, and we have seen two appear in trade. This is only the third copy of High Energy Phenomena and Meson Theories that we have handled: WorldCat locates copies at Stanford, UCLA, and Caltech (with Library Hub adding none further), and just one copy has appeared at auction, described as "a variant issue, without page numbers and running titles", from the library of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Yoichiro Nambu. Kaiser records copies of both the latter series as also in the possession of Sam Schweber. Beyond these three lecture series, printed notes exist for a single talk which Feynman gave at the University of Michigan Summer Symposium in 1949, titled A New Approach to Quantum Electrodynamics. These notes - 51 pages, prepared by Morton Fuchs and R. J. Riddell, Jr. - are more readily available than the three lecture series. WorldCat and Library Hub locate five copies, all in the US, at the University of Michigan (digitised), Purdue University, Naval Research Laboratory, NJ Institute for Advanced Study Library, and the American Institute of Physics. After leaving the Manhattan Project, Feynman's first teaching position was at Cornell, but he soon chafed at the atmosphere of the university. "He seemed to think that Cornell was alternately too large and too small - an isolated village with only a diffuse interest in science outside the confines of its physics department" (Gleick, p. 277). Once Robert Bacher - a colleague from the Manhattan Project - was appointed the administrator of Caltech's physics department, he sought out Feynman for a position. Feynman visited during February and March 1950, possibly as part of the recruitment process, and presented the lecture series Quantum Electrodynamics and Meson Theories. Feynman officially began his tenure as Caltech's Richard Chase Tolman Professor of Theoretical Physics at the beginning of 1951, and between January and March of that year he presented the series High Energy Phenomena and Meson Theories. Said series focussed on particle physics, particularly the search for mesons, and was aimed at an advanced audience of graduate students and fellow professors. Of particular interest is the frequent use of Feynman diagrams, the famous notational system that Feynman developed for quantum electrodynamics, and that he had first presented publicly only a few years before at the 1948 Pocono Conference. Though Feynman diagrams would eventually redefine physics, the.

Seller Inventory # 329937

Bibliographic Details

• Title: High Energy Phenomena and Meson Theories. Notes on a Course Given. at the California Institute of Technology
• Publisher: Pasadena, California
• Publication Date: 1951
• Seller catalogs:
  • Science, Medicine & Natural History