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Title: The Character of Physical Law by RICHARD P. FEYNMAN, JAMES GLEICK ISBN: 0-679-60127-9 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 08 November, 1994 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (18 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Explanations of physics without the complex math.
Comment: Feynman has written an excellent book here that I think is most appreciated by people that have a solid understanding of physics before they begin to read this book.
I've heard some say that Feynman can explain things with extreme clarity to someone that has no knowledge of physics. I couldn't agree more. But at certain points in this book, Feynman begins to venture off and begin discussing things that are relatively complex and I can't say are really intended for people that don't have a solid background in physics.
I personally found myself either thinking his lecture was either too simple (or explained extremely well) or too complex. All in all, I'm not sure who Feynman had in mind for an audience when he gave his lecture, but I would imagine it's for the person that has a solid background in physics and wishes to indulge in some physics "brain-candy" to think about some extremely interesting concepts.
Good book. Surprisingly easy read. Very little complex math. ...
Rating: 5
Summary: I read this book maybe once a month
Comment: Every time I return to this book I pick up on more of Feynman's explanations. From almost beginning to understand angular momentum, to getting a feel for gravity, and how many laws have been integrated. For a novice at physics but with a keen interest this book gives an excellent background and, for me, is a joy to read each time, I can almost hear Feynman making his lectures and sharing jokes with his students. Each time I come away from reading this book I find myself pondering more about various aspects of physics and get a clearer idea of other books to buy to continue my current hobby of understanding the way the universe works just a little better (hopefully anyway :)
Rating: 5
Summary: Feynman Delivers
Comment: This is yet another book that attempts to convey the essence of physics to common people. After explaining exactly why it can't be done, arguing that you'll never get it, Feynman goes right ahead and does it anyway.
For each topic, you get a feel for his goal in covering a topic. He explains gravity, yes, to explain gravity, but also because by explaining it he can also convey what essential properties gravity has that other laws have.
He also explains the difference between fundamental laws and the consequences of those laws. That the individual laws are reversible, but that probability is responsible for the arrow of time. He spends a lot of time showing the difficult relationship between the basic laws (which are reversible) and the irreversibility of events. Both are characteristics of the physical universe but the latter is not a fundamental law. The latter is a logical outcome of them.
So there's a hierarchy, which goes; fundamental laws like gravity at the ground level, consequences of them like irreversibility and surface tension at one level up, organic chemistry further up, then eventually concepts like tree, frog, man, pain, beauty, good and evil - each at a higher level, but based upon the levels below them, and difficult to fully predict using only the laws of the lower levels. The levels can be extended up and down. Below gravity is the unification theory of everything. Above good and evil are love, politics, etc.
And then he asks, of the extremes on this hierarchy, the fundamental laws and the most abstract concepts, which is closest to God? After asking for patience with his religious reference, he spends little time before revealing his belief that the question is flawed. To understand God is to understand how the levels interrelate; how the fundamental laws were "chosen" so that they would lead to the unfolding of all the beautiful complexity that we see around us.
Is this what you want to learn? Why else do we read these books than to attempt to gain a bit more insight into the eternal questions. Most authors that tackle the nature of the universe have a theological axe to grind (the need for God or not) and can't hide it. This book did more on this topic, with fewer pages, while offending me the least because of any theological bias (either way), than anything I've read before.
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