Feynman's Rainbow
A Search for Beauty in Physics and in Life
by Leonard Mlodinow · first published 2003
57% recommend43% neutral
For a young physicist struggling to find his place in the world, the relationship that would most profoundly influence his life was with his mentor, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman.
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…too), the Greek approach being "linear, logical", while the Babylonian approach is more all-encompassing, but possibly more messy, too. If you like to read more about this, take a look at Mlodinow's "Feynman's Rainbow" - it's a small autobiographical book about his time as a starting physics post-doc after a highly promising PhD thesis. He had his office a few doors down from Feynman (Babylonian) and Gell-Mann (Greek)…
on “Elite scientists are more likely to have a hobby in the arts and crafts” ↗Feynman's Rainbow: A Search for Beauty in Physics and Life is a good read: https://www.amazon.com/Feynmans-Rainbow-Search-Beauty-Physic... Minor spoiler alert. Feynman had a strong dislike for string theory, even going…
on “Has elegance betrayed physics?” ↗Luck matters more than we are often led to believe. One can generate luck, to an extent, through persistence. Leonard Mlodinow has written two books that you might find both resonant and uplifting: Feynman's Rainbow: A Search for Beauty in Physics and in Life , and The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives. Furthermore -- if you went to grad school and learned something, either about the subject or yourself,…
on “Why no one is exponentially smarter than others” ↗I just finished Feynman's Rainbow by Mlodinow. It's an interesting look at Feynman and Gell-Man. It was a little lighter on Feynman moments than I expected, but certainly worth the read. I took a break from the 3rd Game of Thrones book…
on “Ask HN: What is HN reading?” ↗If I remember correctly, according to Leonard Mlodinow's Feynman's Rainbow, Gell-Mann wrote that in Feynman's obituary for the Physics Review. It "raised quite a few eyebrows".
on “Feynman vs. the Abacus (1985)” ↗…Taijun Takeda The Royal Navy Lynx: An Operational History A Doctor's War by Aidan MacCarthy Sniping in France by Hesketh-Prichard The Art of Whittling by Faurot Moscow Calling by Angus Roxburgh Feynman's Rainbow by Leonard Mlodinow Icelandic Folk Tales by Stefansson If you like any of those topics then you have my random recommendation, and possibly the indulgent vanity of once more having avoided consumer…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023” ↗"Feynman's Rainbow" has a dialog on how to get new ideas, with some advice from Feynman. Chapter five I think.
on “Isaac Asimov Mulls “How Do People Get New Ideas?” (1959)” ↗