Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track ← We Can Solve This

When a Caltech student asked the eminent cosmologist Michael Turner what his “bias” was in favoring one or another particle as a likely candidate to comprise the dark matter in the universe, Feynman snapped, “Why do you want to know his bias? Form your own bias!”

“I can live with doubt and uncertainty,” he said. “I think it’s much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong.”

He once defined science as belief in the ignorance of experts.

now I’m hitting some mathematical difficulties which I will either surmount, walk around, or go a different way—all of which consumes all my time—but I like to do very much and am very happy indeed.

I received your prune things during these times. Since I was not gastronomically on top of the world I have avoided eating them.When I get a little better inside and my intestines become more attuned to their responsibilities instead of taking their devil-may-care attitude, I’ll eat them (the prunes I mean).

So, of course, I had to make pine needle tea. I did while visiting Putzie Sunday, not that either of us were short on Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) but my curiosity was aroused. Result—fair. Not too wonderful, not too bad. About as good as regular tea, but different. Crush the pine needles up—pour on boiling water and allow to steep a while. Serve hot, or with ice and lemon. Cheap. Remarkable fact is it tastes like pine needles.

She is gaining weight—not however, uniformly, but about 1# or 1 1/2 a week on the average—some weeks none—others 2, etc.

I took a shower this morning (I went to bed 11:30 and woke up 9 or 10 and lazed around).The shower has tin walls so I had a wonderful time making noise.

There was another fellow there too—so this guy played the UKE while the husband played the clarinet and I banged on the furniture, etc. with various objects.

I am writing this Tuesday Morning. I love you Tuesday Morning. But that is just a symptom of a far more extensive ailment. I love you always.

woman.You are not always as strong as other times but it rises and falls like the flow of a mountain stream. I feel I am a reservoir for your strength—without you I would be empty and weak like I was before I knew you—but your moments of strength make me strong and thus I am able to comfort you with your own strength when your stream is low.

Julius borrowed my clock so I don’t know exactly what time it is, but is before 12 I think.

morning.The last time I shaved was when I was in Albuquerque—Sunday night. Five days. I’d just as soon quit shaving altogether, but you look so damn dopey and it isn’t too comfortable (I mean, I look so damn dopey—you look dopey whether I shave or not—I love you).

I’d just as soon work only on cheap watches—but I suppose I’ll get an expensive one someday. Perhaps I better practice on my good watch which is in a hell of a state because I fooled around with it so much. I just got it out to look at it. It seems to be OK except that the minute hand is missing. It works OK otherwise tho.

He wrote that at the top so you wouldn’t get a nervous breakdown and figure he was in love with you, when I write: I love you. Because I do love you and my name is not Julius (or Nick) (which reminds me the baby better not be born with a mustache, or I’ll know who!) but Richard, your loving husband.

I got drunker than I ever did before too. I didn’t even think I could act sober if I wanted to—I was making a lot of noise (they got me my drum), etc. I don’t like it because I know I didn’t drum good or make good jokes and I wasn’t all there to appreciate other people’s jokes

It sounds like a lot of fun but I know I would have enjoyed it better were I more sober.

I guess every guy has to get pretty drunk once in his life in order to be sure he doesn’t like drink. Same with smoking, after cigarettes, pipe and cigars I gave the whole thing up. I’m getting moraller and moraller as I get older—that’s bad.

I didn’t tell you about my trip back here Sunday night. Everything was OK until we got to Española—and there I saw a Ferris wheel and lights and stuff of a carnival so I got out of the bus right there and gave no further thought to how I was going to get back up the hill.

The car had three girls in it. But they were kind of ugly so I remained faithful without even having the fun of exerting will power to do it.

No man is rich who is unsatisfied, but who wants nothing possess his heart’s desire.

I am willing to proceed in any way that seems to you to be in the best interests of the country, even if it should mean some personal danger. Sincerely, R. P. Feynman

I should like to emphasize again that I would like to cooperate fully with the Department. I would be perfectly satisfied with a refusal of permission to go, without feeling that any rights were violated. The situation between the countries is delicate and I am sure that you are far better at judging the repercussions of such a move than am I. On the other hand, if there are no objections I would like to go to the conference.

Does it strike you that prompt replies to requests for their State Department’s views might make it easier for citizens to act in such a way as to protect the department from unnecessary embarrassment? Sincerely, Richard P. Feynman

Dear Mr. Bown: Thank you for your formidable letter describing the legal interrelations. Who is the “designee”? Is that me or am I an advisor, or what the hell? Put it in plain clear one-syllable words, please.

I have a vague recollection of being short or impatient with you somewhere in the past. At least that is how I have become toward the newspaper science press generally. I apologize; to you, but not to the others.

If you are an average student in everything and no intellectual pursuit gives you real delight, then I don’t know how to advise you.You will have to discuss it with someone else. It is a problem that I have not thought about very hard.

This is not an excuse but an admission of irresponsibility.

I am sorry, but I shall not have time to write the article you want for the Bethe volume.You make me feel uncomfortable—I like Hans so very much that I feel I “ought” to do what you want—but who invented this infernal idea of writing an article for a guy when he gets to be 60? Isn’t there an easier way to show friendship and regard? I feel like I feel on “Mother’s Day.”

Congratulations on your Nobel award. In an age of “publish or perish” it has been my pleasure to have come into contact with a good physicist who was also a good teacher.

MARTIN B. EINHORN TO RICHARD

MARTIN B. EINHORN TO RICHARD P. FEYNMAN, OCTOBER 23, 1965

Secondly that the entire article was clear, comprehensible, well-written and accurate can only be explained by a complete disregard of professional standards in these matters. For example, I was not able to find, attributed to me, a single quotation of anything that I did not say myself.

Incidentally, we would all like to felicitate you personally on one of your trips east.Your accomplishments make us all feel that teaching has been worthwhile even though we all realize that you would have accomplished what you did regardless of any teacher.

I have a great deal to thank you for in aiming me and educating me in the direction of physics. I did not remember the time I asked you about the advisability of taking courses in education but I see that you supplied me with not only a good education but good advice.

To see generosity you must be generous enough not to see the meanness, and to see just meanness in a man you must be mean enough not to see the generosity.

I know how you hate notoriety, so my sympathies are with you on this sad occasion. Those Nobel people are no respecters of the scientists’ rights to pretend they are not great copy.

What hurts worse is to think of myself in tails receiving something from the King of Sweden, while the television cameras are watching. It would be all right if they would just give you the prize, but to make you go through the ringer to get it is a dirty trick.

You say you are a nameless man.You are not to your wife and to your child.You will not long remain so to your immediate colleagues if you can answer their simple questions when they come into your office.You are not nameless to me. Do not remain nameless to yourself—it is too sad a way to be. Know your place in the world and evaluate yourself fairly, not in terms of the naïve ideals of your own youth, nor in terms of what you erroneously imagine your teacher’s ideals are. Best of luck and happiness.

One gets the impression then that science is to be a set of pat formulas to standard questions. “What makes it move,” quickly all hands are eagerly raised, the lesson is learned, they are to say “Energy makes it move,” “Gravity makes it fall,” “The soles of our shoes wear out because of friction.” Just words, nothing is explained. It is like just saying “Because of God’s will” and having nothing left to look into.

If you knew me well, you would know that I am immodest enough to take all compliments at their face value and not to think that they might be idle flattering.

But what do we do with a textbook which (unlike most of the others) says mathematics is useful in the sciences and then gives the example: “Red stars have a temperature of 8000 degrees, Blue stars, 12000 degrees. John sees three blue stars and one red star.What is the total temperature of the stars John sees?

I shall write you some of my ruminations, not that you have not already thought of them, and that I am telling you anything new, but rather as a continuing informal conversation to see how well I am learning my lessons.

Naturally, I am very pleased and flattered that you thought them worth translating to German. But, it means even more to me that you found the thought of some relevance to you in the face of your father’s death.

My doctor forbids me to serve as a consulting editor because it is bad for my blood pressure. I end up wanting to write the book and am frustrated by the actual author.

I feel unhappy that I am not sure enough of my position to be able to sign your letter. As next best alternative I am enclosing a small check to help to make sure your advertisement is published.

I did learn Spanish before I went to South America. I had expected to travel somewhere in South American but I hadn’t decided where and was learning Spanish in preparation. But then I received an invitation to visit Brazil to do research there for three months.The invitation came six weeks before I was to go and I spent the six weeks “converting” my newly learned Spanish to Portuguese. People like to make up stories about how I have been foolish on occasion. So I let this story stand, as if I didn’t know they speak Portuguese in Brazil. I hope they will be satisfied with that story and not probe deeper to find out how much more of a fool I have been on other occasions and start stories about those.

I am happily married to an English wife and have two kids (boy 12, girl 6) all of whom are a delight and make me very content. I feel like at last all of life’s problems are solved! But being so content at home and at work here makes me very reluctant to go anywhere else, even for two weeks. So although sorry not to see you again, I shall decline your invitation to visit Austin.

good theoretical work seems to me to be much as it always has been—good ideas appear in individual brains, not in committee meetings.

Please accept and come, I don’t want to be disappointed.

when he first came here he gave a series of seminars on how the heavier elements might be formed in stars if it all started as hydrogen (as his steady state theory proposed). It was all very carefully analyzed and impressive in its attention to detail. He concluded that it wouldn’t work unless there was a nuclear level in carbon close to 7.62 MeV. Since he believed his hydrogen theory he said there must be such a level. We were all very impressed.To find the position of a nuclear level (as yet unknown) by looking not at nuclei in the laboratory, but at the stars in the sky seemed to us most remarkable and courageous. He was right, the level was soon found.

because Feynman says he is pro-nuclear power, isn’t any argument at all worth paying attention to because I can tell you (for I know) that Feynman really doesn’t know what he is talking about when he speaks of such things. He knows about other things (maybe). Don’t pay attention to “authorities,” think for yourself.

About the est conference. It seems to me that we should keep the conference as small as possible and have only guys that are really working actively in the subject attend. On item 1, what the hell is Feynman invited for? He is not up to the other guys and is doing nothing as far as I know. If you clean up the invitation list, to just the hard-core workers, I might begin to think about attending.

Professor Coleman wrote back to say that Feynman was off the list and urged him to come. Feynman attended the conference.

Your thought, to honor me on my birthday year by dedicating the book is very nice.You take much of the pleasure out of it suggesting that I work for it (by writing something—an epilogue?). That is not fair, and I am too lazy to write anything.

It is nice of you but completely unnecessary to do something formal in my “honor.”You, and Thornber, and so many other of the conferees have already honored me directly and very much by paying attention to my work and developing it further. It has given me great pleasure to see these works of others and to be seeing it all collected together in the conference proceedings. To me it represents a demonstration that what I invented (in 1941) is of real and continuing utility to physicists.What further honor is possible?

On one occasion when we were standing together, a young man came up to explain his ideas on superconductivity to us both. I didn’t understand what the fellow was saying—so I thought it must be nonsense (a bad habit I have).

I am pleased to hear that mathematicians can join in the fun, for fun it must be for you too—as it seems to have all the necessary qualifications, according to your quotes—it is “in intimate contact with sin” and “causes mathematical heartburn.”

After a small amount of careful thought I could think of no recent significant influence of the Arts on at least Physical Science. It is likely that the influence is there—so my inability to come up with an example shows that I am not a good candidate to lecture for your symposium.

It is possible that Matt Sands and Sinsheimer thought of me because I once learned to draw, and they think of that as Art.

Dear Francis, I regret having to do this, but I’m returning this paper to you unread. My schedule is such lately that I must refuse to get bogged down reading someone else’s theory; it may turn out to be wonderful and there I’d be with something else to think about.

The usual expression used in Molecular Biological circles is due to Frank Stahl: “Don’t tell me—I might think about

The usual expression used in Molecular Biological circles is due to Frank Stahl: “Don’t tell me—I might think about it!” Yours ever,

The usual expression used in Molecular Biological circles is due to Frank Stahl: “Don’t tell me—I might think about it!”

One of your great accomplishments, Linus, has been to help to produce such a lovely daughter.

Thank you for your note on the signs in Section 21-8 of Vol. III. As I said in the earlier part of the lecture, this is like a seminar. And now you see this is realistic even to the signs in the equations—which, in seminars, are notoriously wrong. Have no faith in my signs.

It appears the Greeks take their past very seriously.They study ancient Greek archeology in their elementary schools for six years, having to take 10 hours of that subject every week.

past.They were very upset when I said that the thing of greatest importance to mathematics in Europe was the discovery by Tartaglia that you can solve a cubic equation—which, altho it is very little used, must have been psychologically wonderful because it showed a modern man could do something no ancient Greek could do, and therefore helped in the renaissance which was the freeing of man from the intimidation of the ancients

P.S. IFYOU CAN’T READ THE ABOVE HANDWRITING, HAVE NO FEAR—IT IS UNIMPORTANT RAMBLINGS. I AM WELL AND IN ATHENS.

Simple questions with complicated answers are always asked by dull students. Only intelligent students have been trained to ask complicated questions with simple answers

He has made himself fully aware of all the problems in fundamental theoretical physics, from gravitation, cosmology and the new unified field theories, to the detailed problems of hadron physics and the weak interactions. The method he uses in studying each question is not so much to read about it, but to work it all out himself. He works very hard. Such methods and such industry is, of course, the true source of creativity and originality.

Don’t despair of standard dull textbooks. Just close the book once in a while and think what they just said in your own terms as a revelation of the spirit and wonder of nature. The books give you facts but your imagination can supply life.

If you’re ever in England and have time to come to Swanage in Dorset—beautiful outside and in—and visit a very ordinary little Englander in a little house you’d be more than welcome. I’ll post (mail) this letter knowing that if you feel that way your waste bin is probably bigger than mine.

Maybe it would help you with your problem about my being an American, to know that my wife is an Englishwoman from Yorkshire. She has probably improved me greatly.

Little did most people (even some in the business) realize how it was actually done.They all believed the illusion that all I had to do was open my mouth and talk for an hour. Like all true art, the artist disappears and it looks natural and wonderful. You and I know better. Three days of interviews, and four hours in the can to make one hour of program. But your original idea, so carefully considered and worried about, to make a talking head seems to have made it an unusual program. Congratulations on the American success of “your program.”

By such carelessness, I have done your field and others a considerable disservice. I apologize (but it does no good now!) With some remorse, yours sincerely,

I am very curious on how reliable old memories are and wonder how much we make up in our own mind when we review events. Maybe we remember saying what we would have liked to say.Your memory is probably more accurate—and there is no doubt I could have said things just as you say—because it does express my sentiments then. Thank you for writing.

I believe that your comments at last week’s Physics Colloquium were arrogant, rude, and disruptive.

Thank you for your observations on my behavior at the Colloquium. You are probably right.

I am very sorry that I cannot help you with more than sympathy and platitudes.

introduced you to the delight we can all get from a close scrutiny of Nature’s patterns.

I fain a complete lack of knowledge of literature. But not, as you guessed, because I am humble. The faining is not feigning.

May I wish you many honors in your life, for I know you will accept them far more graciously than I. From the curmudgeon,

Among the many things I know very little about, one is what one should do to prepare oneself to be a theoretical physicist. My best guess is to do with energy and zest whatever interests you the most.

if you do it well enough (and you will, if you truly love it) people will pay you to do what you want to do anyway.

it.Your letter surprised me, and I am often surprised, to discover that other people don’t ordinarily do things the way I do. It is my greatest pleasure to think anew about things and I am delighted to discover that I have infected you with the same pleasure.

Bruce asked you:“If you could do anything different in your career, what would it be?”You replied with very little hesitation:“I would try to forget how I had solved a problem. Then, each time the problem arose, I might solve it in a different way—I wouldn’t be thinking about how I had solved it before.”

I have grown to enjoy thinking freshly each time a problem arises. In fact, it is a real challenge to find a variety of ways to solve problems.

I may not make any significant contributions to physics in my career, but I have no great concern over that. I find Nature fascinating and challenging, and I have some of that spirit which I saw in you. I have a family which I enjoy, and I have the freedom and the time to think about anything I wish.

list.That same year also saw the publication of QED:The Strange Theory of Light and Matter, Feynman’s painstakingly accurate and detailed explanation, using very little math, of quantum theory for a lay audience (if you want to understand what he got his Nobel Prize for, this book is for you).

thinking.You historians have a way of recreating the past until it appears almost real.

After a bit I went to Franklin (then head of Math Department) to ask “what is the use of higher mathematics beside teaching more higher mathematics.” He answered, “if you have to ask that then you don’t belong in mathematics.” So I changed to practical, Electrical Engineering

Anyway, we must be related somehow—and if we can’t prove it, let’s assume it—it is more fun that way. So we are all waiting to see you when you get out here on your teen tour.

my response to your request for an article on “strings” is that I don’t believe in them, but then I haven’t studied them well enough to know why I don’t believe in them.

Your letter about my book SurelyYou’re Joking. . . suggests that some parts might be cut out as not being so important to a German reader. This shows a complete misunderstanding of the nature of my book.There is nothing at all in it that would be “important” to a German reader, or to any other reader for that matter. It is not in any way a scientific book, nor a serious one. It is not even an autobiography. It is only a series of short disconnected anecdotes, meant for the general reader which, we hope, the reader will find amusing.

I should have been much happier if you gave the book to a department dealing with more general books rather than “Wissenschaftliches Lektorat,” and to a translator known for his sense of humor and a healthy disrespect for pompousness and “importance”

You don’t understand “ordinary people.” To you they are “stupid fools”—so you will not tolerate them or treat their foibles with tolerance or patience—but will drive yourself wild (or they will drive you wild) trying to deal with them in an effective way. Find a way to do your research with as little contact with non-technical people as possible, with one exception, fall madly in love! That is my advice, my friend.

When I received an entire page from Stanford I was so delighted I sent them the prize even though I knew people had made things smaller. I forgot that I had explicitly told you there was no prize. That is a hell of a way to run a railroad! I guess I am not a railroad man.

I am sure of nothing, and find myself having to say “I don’t know” very often. After all, I was born not knowing and have only had a little time to change that here and there. It is fun to find things you thought you knew, and then to discover you didn’t really understand it after all.

“You reported in an editorial ‘The Wonder of It All’ about a proposal to explain some small irregularities in an old (1909) experiment (by Eötvös) as being due to a new “fifth force.”You correctly said I didn’t believe it—but brevity didn’t give you a chance to tell why. Lest your readers get to think that science is decided simply by opinion of authorities, let me expand here.

Commissioner Feynman, Nobel Prize, Einstein Award, Oersted Medal and utter ignoramus about politics.

You ask me to write on what I think about life, etc., as if I had some wisdom. Maybe, by accident,

You ask me to write on what I think about life, etc., as if I had some wisdom. Maybe, by accident, I do—of course I don’t know—all I know is I have opinions.

Even in my crazy book I didn’t emphasize—but it is true—that I worked as hard as I could at drawing, at deciphering Mayan, at drumming, at cracking safes, etc. The real fun of life is this perpetual testing to realize how far out you can go with any potentialities

Let him go, let him get all distorted studying what interests him the most as much as he wants. True, our school system will grade him poorly—but he will make out. Far better than knowing only a little about a lot of things.

It may encourage you to know that the parents of the Nobel prize winner Don Glaser (physicist inventor of the bubble chamber) were advised, when their son was in the third grade, that he should be transferred to a school for retarded children.The

the two of you—father and son—should take walks in the evening and talk (without purpose or routes) about this and that. Because his father is a wise man, and the son I think is wise too for they have the same opinions I had when I was a father and when I was a son

What do you have to do to train yourself to be whatever it is you want to be?

Q:What is it that would make a smart 16-year-old stop for a minute and think. . .” A: Nothing, now, I hope. But to fall in love with a wonderful woman, and to talk to her quietly in the night will do wonders.

Stop worrying, Papa.Your kid is wonderful.Yours from another Papa of another wonderful kid.

That’s a very complicated subject of political nature. I’d rather say I don’t know. I have strong opinions, but I don’t feel that they’re any more valuable than others’ opinions.

A lot of scientists have gone into science because they’re not too interested in the relations of human beings.

The stage is too big for the drama. So I believe it’s not the right picture.