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The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume I

feynmanlectures.caltech.edu

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Re: The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume I

#91

Post by michael_nielsen »

mhartl wrote: post #47

I was the project lead on this, which involved converting the Feynman Lectures from LaTeX to HTML. I'd be happy to answer any questions. Update : Most of the questions center on cost. I've answered in more detail below, but the short version is simple: no off-the-shelf converter was remotely sufficient for our needs, so we had to write lots of custom software, and writing custom software is hard.

Thanks for doing this, Michael, it's awesome that this is now available!

I notice the material is copyright Caltech. Any chance that they'd consider releasing it under an open license? A CC-BY license would enable this material to be repurposed and improved in all kinds of interesting ways.

Re: The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume I

#92

Post by edanm »

vermontdevil wrote: post #77
mhartl wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We did make use of as many existing resources as possible. If you take a look at the [ Ruby on Rails Tutorial book]( http://railstutorial.org/ ) and [ The Tau Manifesto ]( http://tauday.com/tau-manifesto ), both of which are converted to HTML from LaTeX, you'll see that I have deep experience in such conversions. Combined with my previous role as Caltech's editor for the Definitive and Extended Edition of the Feynman…

We should actually do a crowdfunding effort to pay you for your hard work for doing Volume I and for future volumes. Really really appreciate this effort. I've sent this to some of my deaf friends who are studying or trying to get into Physics and they are over the moon about this.

I would absolutely pitch in if someone organised a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for mhartl, even just to pay him back for the current efforts. I'm ecstatic that the lectures now exist online!

Re: The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume I

#93

Post by thinkersilver »

trevyn wrote: post #14

Original email from this morning to give some color: Dear Feynman Lectures Forum Members, Have you ever wished there was a high-quality up-to-date version of The Feynman Lectures on Physics available online? One that could be read with a browser so you could study FLP on your smartphone, tablet, notebook or desktop computer, whenever you felt like it? For free? Well, now there is, and you are among the first to hear…

I've always felt that the one thing missing from my education was at least some basic understanding of physics. I've flicked through the chapters and I have come across many topics before but by proxy of other subjects such as game programming,chemistry and some applied math. Now I have a book to read that will plug obvious gaps in my learning. I particularly like the 'relativistic' illustrations in the units of scale chapter. The descriptions on durations less than a day are quite illuminating and enjoyable. It's funny that I have spent years learning to build huge complex concurrent distributed systems and compute Monte Carlo simulations on clusters, all very abstract and intangible; and yet I have been intimidated with anything beyond a pop culture knowledge of physical phenomena. Thank you for the book.

BTW - Nice touch on the equations.

Re: The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume I

#94

Post by sillysaurus2 »

mhartl wrote: post #47

I was the project lead on this, which involved converting the Feynman Lectures from LaTeX to HTML. I'd be happy to answer any questions. Update : Most of the questions center on cost. I've answered in more detail below, but the short version is simple: no off-the-shelf converter was remotely sufficient for our needs, so we had to write lots of custom software, and writing custom software is hard.

How were you able to convince the publisher to let you put up an online version for free?

Also, please collect data regarding whether this harms book sales. If it turns out not to have any significant effect, then this could be cited as evidence in any future circumstance where someone is trying to convince a book publisher to approve of releasing an online version of a book.

Re: The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume I

#95

Post by Margaret12 »

thinkersilver wrote: post #93
trevyn wrote: post #14

Original email from this morning to give some color: Dear Feynman Lectures Forum Members, Have you ever wished there was a high-quality up-to-date version of The Feynman Lectures on Physics available online? One that could be read with a browser so you could study FLP on your smartphone, tablet, notebook or desktop computer, whenever you felt like it? For free? Well, now there is, and you are among the first to hear…

I've always felt that the one thing missing from my education was at least some basic understanding of physics. I've flicked through the chapters and I have come across many topics before but by proxy of other subjects such as game programming,chemistry and some applied math. Now I have a book to read that will plug obvious gaps in my learning. I particularly like the 'relativistic' illustrations in the units of scal…

my buddy's mother-in-law makes $75 every hour on the internet. She has been without a job for seven months but last month her check was $17516 just working on the internet for a few hours. useful source...

http://xurl.es/w2x2a

Re: The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume I

#96

Post by doctorwho »

AsymetricCom wrote: post #78
GeorgeOrr wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the link. I'm really glad he's made this available on line. And at the risk of looking a gift horse in the mouth, I wish it didn't require silverlight.

What better way to preserve such a valuable educational resource for the future generations than wrapping it into a failed proprietary content platform designed to keep people from using the content!

Did you find any DRM on the content or do you just like to whine?

Re: The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume I

#97

Post by adamgravitis »

mhartl wrote: post #47

I was the project lead on this, which involved converting the Feynman Lectures from LaTeX to HTML. I'd be happy to answer any questions. Update : Most of the questions center on cost. I've answered in more detail below, but the short version is simple: no off-the-shelf converter was remotely sufficient for our needs, so we had to write lots of custom software, and writing custom software is hard.

This is outstanding. Thank you for the effort.

Has there been any consideration of making a semantic version of the equations involved? The great thing about having this on the web, is I could easily see myself maintaining links in long calculations to various formulas as the authority.

(Also: what's the font in the SVG images? It's great!)

Re: The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume I

#98

Post by thufry »

I shoplifted the 3-volume hardcover set of Feynman Lectures from the Borders bookstore in Cambridge in 2003. I would be happy to make partial amends for this by donating the full retail cost to any efforts to digitize volumes 2 and 3.

Re: The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume I

#99

Post by mhartl »

michael_nielsen wrote: post #91
mhartl wrote: post #47

I was the project lead on this, which involved converting the Feynman Lectures from LaTeX to HTML. I'd be happy to answer any questions. Update : Most of the questions center on cost. I've answered in more detail below, but the short version is simple: no off-the-shelf converter was remotely sufficient for our needs, so we had to write lots of custom software, and writing custom software is hard.

Thanks for doing this, Michael, it's awesome that this is now available! I notice the material is copyright Caltech. Any chance that they'd consider releasing it under an open license? A CC-BY license would enable this material to be repurposed and improved in all kinds of interesting ways.

Thanks. The Feynman Lectures IP is a treacherous minefield, and it took a lot of effort even to get this far. I'd love to see a Creative Commons license, but I'd be surprised if it happens.

I try to emphasize to the interested parties that, by doing things like giving away online content and using CC licenses, they stand to make more money (if they execute right), but it's a hard sell to people who don't live on the bleeding edge like we do. And since I don't have equity in the project, my efforts in this direction are strictly pro bono.

Re: The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume I

#100

Post by mhartl »

mhartl wrote: post #89
baiitsu wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First of all a big thank you for the outstanding work! Does Caltech have any plans to release the LaTeX source? And would a PDF or EPUB be made available (free or otherwise)?

Thanks! I don't know what their plans are. There is PDF version, but I can't find it anywhere (well, not a legal one). I'll look into it.

It turns out the publisher still has authorized PDF sales. I'm not in line to get royalties, so it's not my problem, but I still hate to see a missed opportunity.
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