Genius
the life and science of Richard Feynman
by James Gleick · first published 1992
59% recommend34% neutral7% critical
Why HN recommends it
Balanced, well-regarded biography of Richard Feynman that covers his life and the ideas that drove his physics. Suits readers of Surely You're Joking who want a fuller, less self-told portrait.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
A gem of a book, about the life and mind of one of the most influential and iconoclastic characters in 20th century physics. Really a pleasure to read.
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Surely you're joking Mr Feynman is an autobiography and definitely does not reflect Feynmans life unbiasedly. Its a great book but if you want a more unbiased account of his life check out Genius by James Gleick. Walter Isaacson also just came out with a biography on da Vinci and he has one on Benjamin Franklin, though I never finished it, it was written to the same standard as Einstein.
on “Lessons of an MIT Education” ↗Gleick is also the author of a very interesting biography of Richard Feynman, the book Genius. http://www.amazon.com/Genius-Life-Science-Richard-Feynman/dp...
on “Gleick's new book on information theory” ↗There are many wonderful passages in the book "Genius" by James Gleick that describe Richard Feynman's deep intuitive understanding of calculus. He also talks about it a bit in his own works such as Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman. Highly recommend if you…
on “What is it like to understand advanced mathematics?” ↗Genius by James Gleick is the best biography I've ever read. It's about the life of Richard Feynman. Gleick's Isaac Newton is also fantastic.
on “Ask HN: Biographies recommendations – both Westerner and Non-westerner” ↗The book 'Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman' by James Gleick is very balanced. Anyone that has read Surely You're Joking should also read Genius before they start their career.
on “Do not remain nameless to yourself (1966)” ↗Also I recommend “Genius” by James Gleick which is a fantastic biography of him.
on “Poor Human Olfaction Is a Nineteenth Century Myth” ↗…mostly "side projects" e.g. computation, lectures on gravitation, six easy pieces etc. To get a better sense of his work, I would highly recommend: - The Beat of a Different Drum by Jagdish Mehra - Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman by James Gleick - Selected Papers - https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/4270 (expensive and technical) - QED and the men who made it by Schweber…
on “The Feynman Lectures on Physics (online edition)” ↗John Forbes Nash: "A Beautiful Mind" by Sylvia Nasir Richard Feynman: "Genius" by James Gleick "The Passion of Ayn Rand" by Barbara Brandon "John Adams" and "Truman" by David McCullough "Lincoln the Unknown" by Dale Carnegie
on “Ask HN: What are some good biographies to read?” ↗Read Genius by James Gleick if you want to read an excellent biography on Feynman. It includes lots of great details about his childhood.
on “Joan Feynman Found Her Place in the Sun” ↗James Gleick's biography of Feynman, Genius, is a good read and complements the books Feynman wrote himself. > first time I've seen his...extremely ugly sexist behaviour displayed Not to excuse it, but he was the product of a different time.
on “Richard Feynman and the Connection Machine (1989)” ↗K&R C Gleick Genius (although some prefer Chaos) Hofstadter Godel Escher Bach One taught C. One taught or showed the life of a non conventional smart guy. One made you think.
on “Ask HN: What are the best short tech/engineering books you have read?” ↗If you like Feynman, definitely read James Gleick's biography of him, Genius. I actually didn't like Gleick's other books very much, but Genius is beautiful. I went from thinking I'd major in English to majoring in Physics after reading it back in high school. And for general…
on “Ask HN: Good books?” ↗1) Read Genius, by James Gleick. It's a biography of Feynman which mostly concentrates on his life story (with just enough of his work thrown in to keep my inner physics geek happy) which happens to contain a couple…
on “Ask HN: How do geniuses think? How do you think?” ↗I'd say the next logical step is to read James Gleick's biography "Genius", which gives a slightly more well-rounded view.
on “If Richard Feynman applied for a job at Microsoft (2002)” ↗That is far from the only thing he did. He was the wunderkind of the project, and he did all kinds of things. See for instance Gleick's Feynman biography, "Genius". http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/98685.Genius Another good read about the project is this bio: "The Curve of Binding Energy: A Journey into the Awesome and Alarming World of Theodore B. Taylor"…
on “Scientists Say Their Giant Laser Has Produced Nuclear Fusion” ↗