Book read: Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman by J Glieck

A book I've had for a few years but never quite finished, I had the time to read it entirely. It is part Feynman biography and part summary of the history of particle physics. The books is divided into the posts that Feymann held. After describing his early years, the chapters divide MIT, Princeton, Los Alamos (the war years), Cornell, and Caltech.

For me he will be best known for the Challenger enquiry and helping discover the problem with the O-rings on the rocket boosters (something the engineers already knew but management had chosen to ignore). But his work prior to this outshines this, winning the Nobel prize in 1965, and then having worked on the atom bomb during the war.

His working methods were unique, encouraging building up theories from the basics of what is known, and not being led too much by existing work. I think this is because he felt that would stifle original thought and insight. I got the impression only a portion of what he knew or had discovered was ever published - colleagues would often encourage him to write a paper over a blackboard discussion.

The saddest part of the book is the death of his first love Arline from tuberculosis - very moving. It also described the helplessness he must have felt when he was trying to research her illness in vain. He was to marry again, to an English woman who he met while in Europe.