The value of science (1955) [pdf]

#1

Post by mutor » Thu, Jan 21, 2021, 6:00 AM UTC

The value of science (1955) [pdf]
calteches.library.caltech.edu

Re: The value of science (1955) [pdf]

#2

Post by pjm331 » Thu, Jan 21, 2021, 7:04 AM UTC

I forget where I first read this essay, but I have a tendency to go through periods in which I fixate on some person and exhaustively read everything I can find about them and Feynman was one of those people for me at one point (another was Hunter S Thompson - perhaps I have some attraction to brilliant and also deeply flawed people).

There are many interesting points in this piece that are worthy of further discussion but I just wanted to call out for appreciation one of the most poetic passages here:

“Stands at the sea... wonders at wondering... I... a universe of atoms... an atom in the universe”

Beautiful, and also for me personally very charming because I hear it in Feynman’s voice as I have heard it in numerous videos and audio recordings, so down to earth and with the same kind of Long Island accent that my paternal grandmother had.

Re: The value of science (1955) [pdf]

#3

Post by abhinav22 » Thu, Jan 21, 2021, 7:08 AM UTC

Feynman is a legend

Re: The value of science (1955) [pdf]

#4

Post by jagrsw » Thu, Jan 21, 2021, 8:35 AM UTC

Interesting read, but was the article printed like that, or maybe someone scanned it with a 20th century scanner? :)

Re: The value of science (1955) [pdf]

#5

Post by azepoi » Thu, Jan 21, 2021, 8:46 AM UTC

The title is reminiscent of Poincaré's essay La valeur de la science. It was translated into english with the same title The Value of Science. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Value_of_Science

Re: The value of science (1955) [pdf]

#6

Post by blackrock » Thu, Jan 21, 2021, 8:55 AM UTC

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.

-AE

Re: The value of science (1955) [pdf]

#7

Post by azepoi » Thu, Jan 21, 2021, 8:55 AM UTC

jagrsw wrote: post #4

Interesting read, but was the article printed like that, or maybe someone scanned it with a 20th century scanner? :)

Feynman gave this as a public address to a 1955 meeting of the National Academy of Sciences. It was then published in Engineering and Science 19: 13–15. ISSN 0013-7812.

You can find it retranscribed here http://www.faculty.umassd.edu/j.wang/feynman.pdf or there http://alexpetrov.com/memes/sci/value.html

Re: The value of science (1955) [pdf]

#8

Post by mhh__ » Thu, Jan 21, 2021, 12:09 PM UTC

abhinav22 wrote: post #3

Feynman is a legend

But not without flaws (it's hard to know how much truth there is with the women - definitely a womaniser, possibly abusive but that could be just be for the divorce - but Gell-Manns criticism of him is pretty funny)

Re: The value of science (1955) [pdf]

#9

Post by abhinav22 » Thu, Jan 21, 2021, 12:11 PM UTC

mhh__ wrote: post #8

abhinav22 wrote: post #3

Feynman is a legend

But not without flaws (it's hard to know how much truth there is with the women - definitely a womaniser, possibly abusive but that could be just be for the divorce - but Gell-Manns criticism of him is pretty funny)

I wasn’t aware (don’t really follow the news).

My view is to value the work and leave the personal side out of things — with the same token, we should not over idolize people and expect them to be our saviors outside their chosen field. Celebrity worship is bad, they are just humans after all.

I should rephrase my original comment as “Richard Feynman is a legend in Physics”.

Re: The value of science (1955) [pdf]

#10

Post by tchalla » Thu, Jan 21, 2021, 12:15 PM UTC

mhh__ wrote: post #8

abhinav22 wrote: post #3

Feynman is a legend

But not without flaws (it's hard to know how much truth there is with the women - definitely a womaniser, possibly abusive but that could be just be for the divorce - but Gell-Manns criticism of him is pretty funny)

> definitely a womaniser,

Curious - should someone who as consensual casual affairs with women be labeled as a "flaw"?