How feynman learned to crack a safe mikes web logcomments. After the lecture, a guy in the audience asks feynman about his safe cracking stories and feynman goes on for about another ten minutes relating three different. The electronic feynman lectures on physics tedx talks. On the contrary, i think they represent one of the most lucid, accessible and engaging expositions of. Ranked as one of the 10 greatest physicists of all time, feynman contributed a staggering amount to our understanding of the universe.
The resulting feynman lectures on physics took him three years to create and the. He was proud of his bongo playing and safe cracking, taking lsd and speaking, barefoot, to posthippies in big sur. The scientists were rarely allowed to leave the site, so there wasnt much to do when he wasnt working, and safe cracking became a sort of hobby. Richard feynman was something of a rockstar in the physics world, and his lectures at caltech in the early 1960s were legendary as robbie gonzalez reports for io9, footage of these lectures exists, but they were most famously preserved in a threevolume collection of books called the feynman lectures which has arguably become the most popular collection of physics books ever written. I think that the feynman lectures are a great, in some ways unique resource for both physics students and working physicists. Feynman was a keen popularizer of physics through both books and lectures, including. Richard feynman computer heuristics lecture duration. The scientists were rarely allowed to leave the site, so there wasnt much to do when. The feynman lectures on physics is a physics textbook based on some lectures by richard p. Only gradually, as he looked for nuggets of useful information, did he realize how mundane the business really was. Its a great resource for science enthusiasts, students, teachers basically everyone. In surely youre joking mr feynman he mentions how the mechanism of the lock on his desk drawer was the same as the bigass safe used by the military person incharge to keep all the real secret in. At the very end of the program, audience members were surprised when a ghostly animated version of feynman strode onto stage and gave a lecture about his safe cracking adventures. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets.
Bbc world service discovery, richard feynman, physicist. Feynman only needed to peek over his shoulder once to get a couple of numbers and then he could crack it. The nobel prize winning physicist, richard feynman, became very interested in. Furthermore i attended many of feynmans physics x lectures while i was a student at caltech. Microsofts project tuva celebrates richard feynman lecture. Personally, i dont think the feynman lectures are difficult. Some time earlier, one captain had installed an expensive safe for his office, because he was. Feynmans books include many outstanding ones which evolved out of lecture courses. Feynman taught himself trigonometry, analytic geometry, calculus, and a host of other advanced math topics at the age of 15. At the very end of the program, audience members were surprised when a ghostly animated version of feynman strode onto stage and gave a lecture about his safecracking adventures.
To demonstrate that the locks meant nothing, whenever i wanted somebodys report and they werent around, id just go in their office, open the filing cabinet, and take it out. Feynman would take out of his shirt pocket one or two small pieces of paper perhaps 5 x 9 inches unfold them, and smooth them out at the center of the lecture bench in the front of the lecture hall. For example quantum electrodynamics 1961 and the theory of fundamental processes 1961, the feynman lectures on physics 196365 3 volumes, the character of physical law 1965 and qed. However, he did quite a lot of safe cracking and got relatively famous for it. The feynman lectures is one of the most popular lecture series in physics. Richard phillips feynman, formemrs was an american theoretical physicist, known for his.
Til richard feynman was arrested while working on the. New laws in general we look for a new law by the following processfirst we guess it laughter, dont laugh thats really true. One interpretation is that feynman had an unassailable talent, and few people had the ability to use this algorithm. However, feynman s restless drive to tinker and to work on interesting problems led him to ponder the puzzle of how to crack these safes. Mainly mechanics, radiation, and heat is a book written by richard feynman.
There are quite a few copies of this feynman lecture floating around out there, but most end prior to the question from the audience. Perhaps the most notable speaker on friday night was richard feynman himself. Some people didnt even bother locking the safes when they left the office and were expecting to be back in a short amount of time. The insights and analogies that often came out were breathtaking. Turns out that cracking a safe has some things in common with hacking someones bank account in our present day. Richard feynmans legendary course presented at cornell, 1964. May 11, 1918 february 15, 1988 was an american theoretical physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the. A centennial celebration for richard feynman parents. Richard feynman, future nobel winner, was bored with life in the remote new mexico desert while working on the atomic bomb during world war ii, so he amused himself by learning to pick the combination locks in the supposedly secure filing cabinets containing americas nuclear secrets.
While feynman was a guest lecturer in brazil, he learnt how. I enjoyed reading about the lost art of safecracking in this illustrated lecture by tim hunkin. The whole thing was basically an experiment, richard feynman said late in his career, looking back on the origins of his lectures. As feynman would later write in his essay, safecracker meets safecracker. To learn to crack safes, feynman had to find his way past the same myth.
Dec 09, 2004 i enjoyed reading about the lost art of safecracking in this illustrated lecture by tim hunkin. In the second part of the book, they tell you how to crack a safe. Icons of science, innovation and technology on what spurred their creativity. However, he did quite a lot of safe cracking and got. Now, you can watch the feynman lectures online for. Jul 12, 2016 after the lecture, a guy in the audience asks feynman about his safe cracking stories and feynman goes on for about another ten minutes relating three different stories on his safe cracking while. Since the late 1970s, however, he had also battled cancer. Feynman always loved to test complex systems in the spirit of curiosity and fun and nowhere was this more true than in the security systems of the most complex. To demonstrate that the locks meant nothing, whenever i wanted. We are not often blessed with persons of the amazing intelligence of richard feynman. Safe cracking is the main focus of a short story, the title of which is something like a retrieved reformation about a reformed safe cracker who has to crack a safe when his nieces or something get stuck in one. After the lecture, a guy in the audience asks feynman about his safecracking stories and feynman goes on for about another ten minutes relating three different. However, feynmans restless drive to tinker and to work on interesting problems led him to ponder the puzzle of how to crack these safes.
Feynman, a nobel laureate who has sometimes been called the great explainer. Feynmans lectures on physics the law of gravitation youtube. May 11, 1918 february 15, 1988 was an american theoretical physicist, known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics for which he proposed the parton model. Found it on my own, and will add it to media depictions if you dont mind. After the lecture, a guy in the audience asks feynman about his safecracking stories and feynman goes on for about another ten minutes relating three different stories on his safecracking while.
Richard feynmans sense of patterns the experimenters. Feynman only needed to peek over his shoulder once to get a couple of numbers and then he could crack it in a breeze. Why are feynmans lectures on physics considered to be so. The feynman lectures on physics, the most popular physics book ever written, is now completely online the character of physical law. Learn how richard feynman cracked the safes with atomic. Some time earlier, one captain had installed an expensive safe for his office, because he was anticipating much larger secrets than the others. The experiment turned out to be hugely successful, spawning a book that has remained a definitive introduction to physics for decades. Fun to imagine collection, bbc archive of 6 short films of feynman talking in a style that is accessible to all about the physics behind common to all experiences. In these no credit 45 minute weekly lectures feynman would take 1 or 2 physics questions from freshman students each session and expound upon them without interuption. He survived one bout, but another in 1985 left him ashen. Safecracking is the main focus of a short story, the title of which is something like a retrieved reformation about a reformed safe cracker who has to crack a safe when his nieces or something get stuck in one.
Theyve held up remarkably well in most respects, despite being now over fifty years old. Feynman s books include many outstanding ones which evolved out of lecture courses. Those were his notes for his lecture, although he rarely referred to them and his timing was most impressive. Richard feynman will always be right there near the top of my alltime heroes, and reading this book cemented my respect for this legend. A counterinterpretation is that feynmans skills werent beyond any interested, thoughtful person. Nov 04, 2007 richard feynman computer heuristics lecture duration. Richard feynman shared the 1965 nobel prize in physics. The lectures were presented before undergraduate students at the california institute of technology caltech, during 19611963. Because his repertoire would have to omit drills and nitroglycerin, it would have to make the most of such practical rules as he could find. This is an invaluable piece of history that numberphile addresses in this segment on safe cracking. The nobel prize winning physicist, richard feynman, became very interested in combination locks while. Richard feynman in 1966 the experimenters, from the creators of blank on blank.
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