The Feynman Lectures: "For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled"
Richard Feynman's Los Alamos Laboratory Badge
I first became truly aware of Richard Feynman when he testified in front of the Rogers Commission as to the possible cause of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. I had witnessed the explosion on television while a News Desk Editor at Time magazine; no other televised incident had to that point, and now after it, affected me with that level of sadness.
What follows is quoted from James Glieck's biography of Feynman, Genius, The Life and Science of Richard Feynman:
"Tuesday morning he rose early and hailed a taxcab. He circled official Washington in seach of a hardware store and finally managed to buy a small C-clamp and pliers. As the heariing began, he called for ice water, and an aide returned with cups and a pitcher for the entire commission. As a life-size cross section of the joint was passed along for the commissioners to examine, Kutyna saw Feynman take the clamp and pliers froom his pocket and pull a piece of the O-ring rubber from the model. He knew what Feynman meant to do. When Feynman reached for the red button on his microphone, Kuyna held him back — the television cameras were focused elsewhere. Rogers called a short break and, in the men's room, standing next to Neil Armstrong, he was overheard saying, 'Feynman is becoming a real pain in the ass.' When the hearing resumed, the moment had finally arrived.
"Chairman Rogers: Dr. Feynman has one or two comments he would like to make. Dr. Feynman.
"Dr. Feynman: This is a comment for Mr. Mulloy. I took this stuff that I got out of your seal and I put it in ice water, and I discovered that when you put some pressure on it for a while and then undo it it doesn't stretch back. It stays the same dimension. In other words, for a few seconds at least and more seconds than that, there is no resilience in this particular material when it is at a temperature of 32 degrees.
"I believe that has some significance for our problem."
"Freeman Dyson said later, 'The public saw with their own eyes how science is done, how a great scientist thinks with his hands, how nature gives a clear answer when a scientist asks her a clear question.' "
A few years later, I 'borrowed' a copy of Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman, from my son-in-law, Ross, and a fascination with this scientist continued. I also recorded the movie Infinity, starring Matthew Broderick as Feynman, a movie he also directed.
Report of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident; Volume 2: Appendix F - Personal Observations on Reliability of Shuttle by R. P. Feynman: "For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled."
"Caltech and The Feynman Lectures Website are pleased to present this online edition of The Feynman Lectures on Physics. Now, anyone with internet access and a web browser can enjoy reading a high quality up-to-date copy of Feynman's legendary lectures. However, we want to be clear that this edition is only free to read online, and this posting does not transfer any right to download all or any portion of The Feynman Lectures on Physics for any purpose."This edition has been designed for ease of reading on devices of any size or shape; text, figures and equations can all be zoomed without degradation.
Volume I, mainly mechanics, radiation and heat
