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"What Do You Care What Other People Think?": Further Adventures of a Curious Character (Feynman Book 2) by [Richard P. Feynman, Ralph Leighton]

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Richard P. Feynman

"What Do You Care What Other People Think?": Further Adventures of a Curious Character (Feynman Book 2) Kindle Edition

by Richard P. Feynman (Author), Ralph Leighton (Editor) Format: Kindle Edition

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Book 2 of 2: Feynman Series

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The New York Times best-selling sequel to "Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!"

One of the greatest physicists of the twentieth century, Richard Feynman possessed an unquenchable thirst for adventure and an unparalleled ability to tell the stories of his life. "What Do You Care What Other People Think?" is Feynman’s last literary legacy, prepared with his friend and fellow drummer, Ralph Leighton. Among its many tales—some funny, others intensely moving—we meet Feynman’s first wife, Arlene, who taught him of love’s irreducible mystery as she lay dying in a hospital bed while he worked nearby on the atomic bomb at Los Alamos. We are also given a fascinating narrative of the investigation of the space shuttle Challenger’s explosion in 1986, and we relive the moment when Feynman revealed the disaster’s cause by an elegant experiment: dropping a ring of rubber into a glass of cold water and pulling it out, misshapen.

Print length

260 pages
Language

English
Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company
Publication date

February 14, 2011
File size

16404 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A thoughtful companion volume to the earlier Surely You Are Joking Mr. Feynman!. Perhaps the most intriguing parts of the book are the behind-the-scenes descriptions of science and policy colliding in the presidential commission to determine the cause of the Challenger space shuttle explosion; and the scientific sleuthing behind his famously elegant O-ring-in-ice-water demonstration. Not as rollicking as his other memoirs, but in some ways more profound. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Roughly half of these 21 short, colloquial essays deal with Feynman's firsthand investigaton of the Challenger space-shuttle disaster. He casts himself in the role of intrepid detective, and the first-person singular pronoun keeps intruding on the worthwhile things he has to say about flight safety and lack of communication within NASA. An appendix offers his chilling technical observations on the shuttle's reliability or lack of it. The remaining pieces are mostly a blur of international conferences, purveying slight anecdotes. But two essays touch genuine depths of feeling: his tribute to his father, who taught him to cultivate a sense of wonder, and his account of his love affair with his first wife (who died). In this posthumous miscellany, theoretical physicist Feynman displays only sporadically the adventurousness that captivated readers of Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

About the Author

Richard P. Feynman (1918–1988) was a professor at Cornell University and CalTech and received the Nobel Prize for physics in 1965. In 1986 he served with distinction on the Rogers Commission investigating the space shuttle Challenger disaster.

Ralph Leighton lives in northern California. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From Library Journal

Following the success of the late Nobel laureate's first commercial book, Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman (1984), this second was perhaps an inevitability. The book has problems, but it is worthwhile nonetheless. In general, the new anecdotes lack the wit, novelty, and outrageousness of those in the earlier work. The book's second half is the high point; it is topical, entertaining, and illuminating, and telells of Feynman's work on the Rogers Commission, which investigated the Challenger space shuttle disaster. Readers who bypass the first part, which is rife with unconnected tales, will be happy to find this in their libraries. Gregg Sapp, Idaho State Univ. Lib., Boise
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review

"Feynman’s voice echoes raw and direct through these pages."
― James Gleick, New York Times Book Review

"One final, welcome jolt from Mr. Feynman…There are a great many things for all of us in this book."
― Peter Gorner, Chicago Tribune

"There is nothing obtuse or difficult about [this] book. Indeed, Feynman’s rendering of such a potentially complex subject as the Challenger disaster is straightforward, lucid, and accessible."
― San Francisco Chronicle

"One of the greatest minds of the twentieth century…[He] was also stubborn, irreverent, playful, intensely curious and highly original in practically everything he did."
― New York Review of Books

"A gentler book [than “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!”], and for those interested in the man, a more substantial one."
― Bettyann Kevles, Los Angeles Times --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004OA6KIS
Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition (February 14, 2011)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 14, 2011
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 16404 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 260 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #95,023 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #54 in Biographies of Scientists
- #93 in Physics (Kindle Store)
- #234 in Science & Math (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
1,167 ratings

About the authors

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Richard P. Feynman
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Richard P. Feynman was born in 1918 and grew up in Far Rockaway, New York. At the age of seventeen he entered MIT and in 1939 went to Princeton, then to Los Alamos, where he joined in the effort to build the atomic bomb. Following World War II he joined the physics faculty at Cornell, then went on to Caltech in 1951, where he taught until his death in 1988. He shared the Nobel Prize for physics in 1965, and served with distinction on the Shuttle Commission in 1986. A commemorative stamp in his name was issued by the U.S. Postal Service in 2005.
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Ralph Leighton
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Ralph Leighton (born 13 November 1949) is a biographer, film producer, and friend of the late physicist Richard Feynman. He recorded Feynman relating stories of his life. Leighton has released some of the recordings as The Feynman Tapes. These interviews became the basis for the books Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! and What Do You Care What Other People Think?, which were later combined into the hardcover anniversary edition Classic Feynman: All the Adventures of a Curious Character. Leighton is an amateur drummer and founder of the group Friends of Tuva. In 1990 he wrote Tuva or Bust! Richard Feynman's Last Journey.
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Customer reviews

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Memoires of a brilliant mind

Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2020

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By recalling and retelling episodes of his life, Feynman offers us a detailed insight on his unique approach to view the world and solve its problems. An approach that is rooted in doubt (not artificial certainty) and in a desire/love to understand the world at its most fundamental level. In the current decade where one seems to have given up on this ideal of being able to understand the world at its fundamental level, this serves as an example, a beacon that hopefully would inspire many to follow his lead and counter react the current superficial black/white attitude to solve the world’s problems.
The following quote from the book illustrates this perfectly: “Our freedom to doubt was born out of a struggle against authority in the early days of science. It was a very deep and strong struggle: permit us to question—to doubt—to not be sure. I think that it is important that we do not forget this struggle and thus perhaps lose what we have gained. Herein lies a responsibility to society.”
In many ways, Feynman’s view of the world is very similar to Elon Musk’s who has turned this not in a scientific but a commercial success.
The book also offers a detailed review of the way the commission operated that investigated the accident with Space Shuttle Challenger.
Highly recommended!

4 people found this helpful

highly recommended

Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2017

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These “further adventures” follow on from the book "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!”, or rather, the first half does. The second half is Feynman’s account of his role on the commission into the Challenger shuttle disaster. The book concludes with Feynman’s 1955 Nat Acad Sc address on the value of science.

Feynman was undoubtedly one of the great names of twentieth century science, and a remarkable individual. His "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!” is an exceptional book: definitely 5++. The sequel, “What do you care what other people think?”, is perhaps not quite as good, being somewhat disjointed, but it is clearly still a solid 5 stars. A fascinating read.

28 people found this helpful

Inspiring and Humerous Story of one of America’s Great Scientists

Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2020

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This was an enjoyable and oddly inspiring book. It’s a story of a remarkably successful scientist, who lived his life as an adventure. The book is quite humerous, and is also ideal to listen to on audiobooks (as it can be started and stopped easily).

Leonard Washington

Awesome man, awesome book.

Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2016

Verified Purchase

I'm biased.

I love just about everything Richard Feynman. After reading "Surely you must be joking..." in high school, I was fascinated by the man who seemingly shattered the preconceptions of what a scientific personality was like.
During my college years I had a physics professor who spoke somewhat disaparagingly of him, with particular focus on how he thought that Professor Feynman's views on women were distasteful at best.
After reading a few books now, I think this idea is not very accurate. He may have had some predispositions that were pretty common during the time-period of his young adult life, but this book made me feel like I finally understood his capacity for love and devotion. Unless I find out something really crazy, I think my physics professor was misled at some point.
This book was much more intimate than anything else I had read. Those of us with engineering education tend to miss out a bit on the human side of the heroes of science. I recommend to anyone who wants to know more about what I consider the most extraordinary human mind that the world has ever known.

And btw:
In the Description link on the product page, the Publishers Journal seems to recommend that readers skip the first parts of the book and just read about the Challenger anecdotes. I hope a robot wrote that review, because they're suggesting you forego the most poignant and fundamentally human side of the man. I struggle to comprehend how even the most detached of people would offer this as a suggestion. A bit disturbing, imo.

More physics adventure stories from Dr. Richard P. Feynman

Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2021

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Item arrived quickly, undamaged, exactly as advertised - a very good read. Thanks !

Bits and pieces of genius

Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2017

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A little unpolished, but a tremendous insight into one of the greatest minds to grace the field of physics. This is very easy and reading, don't be intimidated by the man. Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman was more fun, but reading about the challenger investigation is extremely interesting. Read it in a single day, something I rarely do these days.

4 people found this helpful

Stanley H. Zisk

Richard Feynman book...

Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2015

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Wonderful stories by and about a smart guy who formed his opinions by looking at the real world rather than from the opinions of other people. Funny and thought-provoking. And the story of the shuttle "Challenger" disaster and how it happenned is fascinating, and maybe more than a little horrifying.

One person found this helpful

If you are interested in many things......

Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2018

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Another great read written by a very interesting man. The first book I found many years ago was “Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman” which led me to other books by, in his words, this “curious character”.

Top reviews from other countries

Harry Buckle

Genius and readable book about a genius

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 17, 2021

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Wonderfully put together collection (as with the other main Feynman book) indeed about a curious character. Even the double entendre of the cover header is great. I have a vagie feeling that our/your Mr Feyman would and may still run foul of todays woke mania... but read it...get real...and be thankfull for both the book and him. (and the author/compiler actually) Highly reccomended.

Steven Unwin

Valuable insights from Richard Feynman

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 14, 2009

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Having read Genius: Richard Feynman and Modern Physics I'd discovered the fascinating work and life of Richard Feynman and was keen to learn more. This is the second of two books Feynman wrote. I happened to come across this book first and perhaps I've read them in the wrong order, no matter.

The book is autobiographical, but in a typical spirit of nonconformity is not a biography. Rather it is a collection of anecdotes written about episodes in Feynman's life. The first half of the book is a selection of these short stories, in no particular order, each describing in a matter of fact fashion an aspect of Feynman's life. Each as a side effect provides an insight to his thinking and attitude to life and learning. Clearly this material was a key resource for James Gleick's work and I had the feeling that these were stories which didn't find their way into Feynman's previous book `Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman'. As a consequence Gleick's book provides a more rounded and complete picture which ties these snippets together. However Feynman's book has more to offer.

The second half of the book has a detailed account of the work on investigating the cause of the Challenger Shuttle disaster. This description will be of interest to anyone who wants to find out the technical details of just what went wrong, but more interestingly has some fascinating insights into the afflictions that can infect the thinking of large organisations. In the case of NASA this led to mistaken understanding of safety and risk, which when compounded by poor communication between management and staff created a widespread blind spot, which extended well outside NASA, about the challenge and dangers of space flight. There are lessons here for any organisation, which even if they don't surface as safety issues, will undoubtedly have impacts in some aspect of the organisation's performance.

On a personal note, I've left the best bit of the book until last, appropriately because it is the last nine pages. Here is reproduced a public address given in 1955 to the National Academy of Sciences titled `The Value of Science'. Feynman gives a brilliant description of the absolute and essential role of exploration in creating advance, and the fact that non-scientists have little comprehension of the real learning process by which this advance is made. For me this short concluding section of the book was worth the price alone, illustrated by the books concluding paragraph..

"It is our responsibility as scientists, knowing the great progress which comes from a satisfactory philosophy of ignorance, the great progress that is the fruit of this freedom of thought, to proclaim the value of this freedom; to teach how doubt is not to be feared but welcomed and discussed; and to demand this freedom as our duty to all coming generations."
In short, if you want to find out about Feynman, Genius is a more complete read, having read that you may be inspired to read this book to find out more. However if you want to learn of lessons from the Challenger disaster, or simply read the description of exploration in `The Value of Science',this is a book well worth reading.

15 people found this helpful

Steven Unwin

Valuable Insights from Richard Feynman

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 14, 2009

Verified Purchase

Having read Genius: Richard Feynman and Modern Physics I'd discovered the fascinating work and life of Richard Feynman and was keen to learn more. This is the second of two books Feynman wrote. I happened to come across this book first and perhaps I've read them in the wrong order, no matter.

The book is autobiographical, but in a typical spirit of nonconformity is not a biography. Rather it is a collection of anecdotes written about episodes in Feynman's life. The first half of the book is a selection of these short stories, in no particular order, each describing in a matter of fact fashion an aspect of Feynman's life. Each as a side effect provides an insight to his thinking and attitude to life and learning. Clearly this material was a key resource for James Gleick's work and I had the feeling that these were stories which didn't find their way into Feynman's previous book `Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman'. As a consequence Gleick's book provides a more rounded and complete picture which ties these snippets together. However Feynman's book has more to offer.

The second half of the book has a detailed account of the work on investigating the cause of the Challenger Shuttle disaster. This description will be of interest to anyone who wants to find out the technical details of just what went wrong, but more interestingly has some fascinating insights into the afflictions that can infect the thinking of large organisations. In the case of NASA this led to mistaken understanding of safety and risk, which when compounded by poor communication between management and staff created a widespread blind spot, which extended well outside NASA, about the challenge and dangers of space flight. There are lessons here for any organisation, which even if they don't surface as safety issues, will undoubtedly have impacts in some aspect of the organisation's performance.

On a personal note, I've left the best bit of the book until last, appropriately because it is the last nine pages. Here is reproduced a public address given in 1955 to the National Academy of Sciences titled `The Value of Science'. Feynman gives a brilliant description of the absolute and essential role of exploration in creating advance, and the fact that non-scientists have little comprehension of the real learning process by which this advance is made. For me this short concluding section of the book was worth the price alone, illustrated by the books concluding paragraph..

"It is our responsibility as scientists, knowing the great progress which comes from a satisfactory philosophy of ignorance, the great progress that is the fruit of this freedom of thought, to proclaim the value of this freedom; to teach how doubt is not to be feared but welcomed and discussed; and to demand this freedom as our duty to all coming generations."
In short, if you want to find out about Feynman, Genius is a more complete read, having read that you may be inspired to read this book to find out more. However if you want to learn of lessons from the Challenger disaster, or simply read the description of exploration in `The Value of Science',this is a book well worth reading.

2 people found this helpful

Mole

An interesting collection of anecdotes

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 9, 2011

Verified Purchase

This is a follow on from Feynman's first book "Surely you are joking Mr Feynman". It sort of picks up from where the other left off, but about half of the book is devoted to his activities as part of the panel investigating the Challenger Shuttle disaster.

What I did find odd was that he seemed surprised at the behaviour and reaction of the others on the same panel; many of his comments indicate a level of bewilderment at the way that things were done and how the process was carried out. From his previous book, I would have expected him to be a lot more savvy towards the nature of those that work much more in the public sector. I wonder if he was in fact playing a double game; knowing exactly what he faced, but then pretending a level of frustration to indicate that he was not part of the same set-up. Of course, we will never know, but it is interesting to speculate.

Both parts of the book are well worth reading, and this book is one that will probably require more than one viewing.

4 people found this helpful

NodNodPilot

Fascinatiing man and a well put together part biography

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 22, 2013

Verified Purchase

This book is centered around specific events in his life and needs to be read with companion bio's. Having said that, this is an excellent read on its own account. Every now and then a 'special' person is set amongst us and RPF is one of those. A brilliant mind but not one that has lost common sense and the ability to communicate with the ordinary person - especially those who show the same values of honesty and genuineness. I first came accross RPF in a recent TV documentary about the ill fated Challenger mission and the subsequent enquiry. RPF showed and single minded devotion to get to the truth when others around were over influenced by politics and self interest.

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