3 Questions: Why Richard Feynman’s lectures still mesmerize
In 1964, physicist Richard Feynman delivered a series of lectures titled “On the Nature of Physical Law.” Feynman delivered these seven one-hour lectures at Cornell in 1964, and the BBC taped them. Microsoft, which owns the rights to the films, has now mounted the videos on a website that is open to the world. The company asked MIT physics professor Robert Jaffe to prepare an online commentary on the lectures. His contribution went live recently and is available at http://research.microsoft.com/apps/tools/tuva/ (download may be required). In an interview with MIT News, Jaffe talked about the Feynman lectures and why they are still important, so many years later.Q. Nearly 50 years after Richard Feynman gave these lectures, why are they still relevant today?A. Feynman brought a level of insight, enthusiasm and trenchant wit to the exposition of the fundamental laws of physics that is unsurpassed. These lectures come from the height of...