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The Feynman Lectures on Physics (1961-1964)

feynmanlectures.caltech.edu

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Re: The Feynman Lectures on Physics (1961-1964)

#41

Post by dylan604 »

ducttapecrown wrote: post #5

Wow. This is a beautifully lightweight browser textbook. It has essentially everything I'd expect. Good math typesetting, customizable margin and font with simple javascript (I'm guessing I didn't check). Envisioning a responsive open source browser textbook is pretty easy, I'm glad someone with cachet like Caltech is providing a role model. Hopefully every important textbook will eventually be as accessible as this…

My only dislike is the 100% width, but that's just a modern styling preference.

Re: The Feynman Lectures on Physics (1961-1964)

#43

Post by bacon_waffle »

SubjectToChange wrote: post #20
andi999 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buying the paper version?

It has been on my wish list for a while now, but in any case I would still like something I can read on my laptop.

It's available as an ebook too, from at least Amazon and Kobo.

Re: The Feynman Lectures on Physics (1961-1964)

#44

Post by fsckboy »

Stratoscope wrote: post #27

If you enjoy Feynman's lectures as much as I do (he taught freshman physics when I went to Caltech!) I highly recommend his armchair series, "Fun to Imagine": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYg6jzotiAc He's sitting at home in Pasadena, talking about stuff that comes to mind. • Jiggling atoms who like to make friends with each other. • Where do trees come from? (It's not the dirt.) • Why don't your arms sink through…

he makes a solid--but ok, some of you would quibble it--Newtonian physics error in that series.

anybody else here have a claim that they can correct Feynman?

Re: The Feynman Lectures on Physics (1961-1964)

#46

Post by Qem »

linspace wrote: post #35
kaidon wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Standing on the shoulders of giants

The giants are so high by now that is hard just to reach the shoulders

Indeed. We need to build some sort of scalator, so more people get a shot at arriving there, instead of spending whole careers just to fall midway, nowhere near the shoulders.

Re: The Feynman Lectures on Physics (1961-1964)

#47

Post by ravel-bar-foo »

pvg wrote: post #31
Graffur wrote: post #28

Is there any benefit to a layman working their way through this? Or is it only relevant to studying/passing an exam?

It's a classic and highly regarded physics course although these days there are many options to choose from. It's not for median laypeople, though - the original audience was CalTech undergrads so there's a fair bit of mathematical (and, realistically, physics) pre-req.

I read somewhere (probably another HN comment) that most of the undergrads dropped the course, but Feynman didn't know because they were replaced by grad students.

Re: The Feynman Lectures on Physics (1961-1964)

#48

Post by wintermutestwin »

dylan604 wrote: post #41
ducttapecrown wrote: post #5

Wow. This is a beautifully lightweight browser textbook. It has essentially everything I'd expect. Good math typesetting, customizable margin and font with simple javascript (I'm guessing I didn't check). Envisioning a responsive open source browser textbook is pretty easy, I'm glad someone with cachet like Caltech is providing a role model. Hopefully every important textbook will eventually be as accessible as this…

My only dislike is the 100% width, but that's just a modern styling preference.

As someone who zooms in on 80% of websites, <100% width is infuriating.

Re: The Feynman Lectures on Physics (1961-1964)

#49

Post by zengargoyle »

zanethomas wrote: post #16

Nice! I bought the books decades ago and lost them, decades ago. :\

Same, I had my books from 1986 (when I was 16) bought from Caltech's bookstore while I was there at a summer program (YESS, Young Engineer Summer Scholars) that went on for months where I learned 2-3 semesters worth of undergrad physics/calculus. Such a wonderful summer nerd program for the day and age. Best summer camp ever! So many stories. Lost the books in a move in the late 1990's, still a bit sad about it. One of these days I'll add them back to my shelf.

Re: The Feynman Lectures on Physics (1961-1964)

#50

Post by hither_shores »

idoh wrote: post #24

It’s on my bucket list to read through these lectures and grok them. Maybe it will be a retirement project? While we are talking about this, I feel like I need to brush up on my math. Does anyone know what level of math is required to work through these?

Linear algebra and multivariable calculus
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