What Do You Care What Other People Think?
further adventures of a curious character
by Richard Phillips Feynman, Ralph Leighton · first published 1988
51% recommend48% neutral1% critical
Why HN recommends it
Personal, easy-reading anecdotes from Feynman's life, a follow-up to Surely You're Joking, with a warmer tone and his account of the Challenger investigation; good for readers who enjoy curiosity and play.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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.
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2007–2026"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman"
Richard Phillips Feynman, Ralph Leighton
Recommended by 190 · mentioned by 381190 recommend · 381 mention190 recommend · 381190 recommend
2008–2026Genius
James Gleick
Recommended by 17 · mentioned by 2917 recommend · 29 mention17 recommend · 2917 recommend
2016Visual & Statistical Thinking
Edward R. Tufte
0 recommend · 3 mentioned0 recommend · 3 mention0 recommend · 30 recommend
2010–2019Tuva or bust!
Ralph Leighton
Recommended by 1 · mentioned by 31 recommend · 3 mention1 recommend · 31 recommend
2011–2026The beat of a different drum
Jagdish Mehra
Recommended by 4 · mentioned by 44 recommend · 4 mention4 recommend · 44 recommend
2008–2012Classic Feynman
Richard Phillips Feynman
Recommended by 4 · mentioned by 44 recommend · 4 mention4 recommend · 44 recommend
2008–2026The Feynman Lectures on Physics
Richard Phillips Feynman
Recommended by 69 · mentioned by 12669 recommend · 126 mention69 recommend · 12669 recommend
I highly recommend both of Feynman's memoirs: "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!", http://www.amazon.com/Surely-Feynman-Adventures-Curious-Char... "What Do You Care What Other People Think?" http://www.amazon.com/What-Care-Other-People-Think/dp/039332... He's of course a good writer. But if you didn't know any better, you'd think him to be a sort of adult-Pollyanna, someone of innocent…
on “Oppenheimer's recommendation letter for Richard Feynman” ↗I think you should go and read "What do you care what other people think?" by Richard Feynman or "Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman." He had an insatiable curiosity, was well liked, had a lot of fun, and a lot of the times was the smartest guy in the room. But the key fact…
on “Stop Trying To Be Smart...? Goal for 2010” ↗My absolute hero is Richard Feynman. Required reading: - "Surely You're Joking" - "What Do You Care What Other People Think" - http://history.nasa.gov/rogersrep/v2appf.htm "Personal Observations on Reliability of Shuttle" (Challenger disaster report) - Also, consider torrenting videos of his "Messenger Lectures". The youtube…
on “My Heroes” ↗I'm not going to self-nominate myself as 'bright', but I liked these 3 books when I was 14ish: What do you care what other people think? by Richard Feynman. Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. Flatland, by Edwin Abbott.
on “What Would You Recommend to a Bright 14 Year Old?” ↗Autobiography/Memoirs: Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! - Richard Feynman What Do You Care What Other People Think? - Richard Feynman Crime and Guilt: Stories - Ferdinand von Schirach Fiction: The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov Technical: Bulldog: A Compiler for VLIW Architectures - John Ellis
on “Ask HN: Books you wish you had read earlier?” ↗…books, to doodle diagrams and bullet points on a physical notebook or pace in your room up and down submerged in thought while you try to grok what's going on. Read some Feynman interview books, like "What Do You Care What Other People Think?" and "Surely you're joking Mr. Feynman!" I always get inspired to cut off the bullcrap and focus on curiosity and learning for the sake of it, without caring about stroking my ego. If I'm a noob in a…
on “Ask HN: How to get rid of impostor syndrome?” ↗…Design and Analysis of Algorithms by Leviten Assembly Language Programming for the IBM PC Family by Jones Essays/Collections: Hackers & Painters by PG Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman by Feynman What Do You Care What Other People Think by Feynman The Cathedral & The Bazaar by Raymond Novels: The Soul of a New Machine by Kidder Where Wizards Stay up Late by Hafner
on “Ask YC: What would you put on a hacker's bookshelf?” ↗…to explain a piece of mathematics, he suddenly realized that notation could not be a personal matter since one needed it to communicate." The story is either in "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman" or "What Do You Care What Other People Think?". I forget which stories are in which book. Both are great though.
on “Confessions of a Math Idiot” ↗You should read Richard Feynman's book What Do You Care What Other People Think. There's a really fascinating chapter about this.
on “In what language do deaf people think?” ↗…Taylor _Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing_ by Soren Kierkegaard _The Invisible Computer_ by Donald Norman _Death March_ by Edward Yourdon _War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning_ by Chris Hedges _What Do You Care What Other People Think?_ by Richard P. Feynman
on “Ask HN: What books have helped make who you are today?” ↗…moment of snark. Even when they completely misunderstand what you did and that it is good. And worse, there are those who just tear down anything. It's just a fact of life. I suggest you read Feynman's "What do you care what other people think?" It helped me a lot.
on “What It's Like To Be Ridiculed For Open Sourcing A Project” ↗What do you care what other people think? is a great book, but I'd recommend starting with Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman first.
on “What Would You Recommend to a Bright 14 Year Old?” ↗The sequel, "What Do You Care What Other People Think?": Further Adventures of a Curious Character [1] is also excellent, and includes his account of serving on the commission that investigated the Challenger disaster. [1] https://www.amazon.com/What-Care-Other-People-Think/dp/03933...…
on “Richard Feynman and the Connection Machine (1989)” ↗This makes me think of a fun Feynman essay, "What do you care what other people think?" I believe that the common response to that is to assume that it's meant to be snarky or something, but I view it as an honest question. Therefore I often find myself asking myself, "what do you care…
on “The Strength of Being Misunderstood” ↗…describe is unsatisfactory, to say the least; the reason I point to Petroski's work is that he did not write like that. Another great book to read to examine modes of engineering failure is Feynman's "What Do You Care What Other People Think?" which includes some of his thoughts on the Challenger disaster.
on “Let there be more biographies of failures” ↗