Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track:
The Letters of Richard P. Feynman

by Richard P. Feynman

Copyright 2005 by Michelle Feynman and Carl Feynman. All Rights Reserved.

Categories:  Contemporary  Non-Fiction

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Description

A Nobel Prize-winning physicist, a loving husband and father, an enthusiastic teacher, a surprisingly accomplished bongo player, and a genius of the highest caliber—Richard P. Feynman was all these and more. Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track—collecting over forty years' worth of Feynman's letters—offers an unprecedented look at the writer and thinker whose scientific mind and lust for life made him a legend in his own time. Containing missives to and from such scientific luminaries as Victor Weisskopf, Stephen Wolfram, James Watson, and Edward Teller, as well as a remarkable selection of letters to and from fans, students, family, and people from around the world eager for Feynman's advice and counsel, Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track not only illuminates the personal relationships that underwrote the key developments in modern science, but also forms the most intimate look at Feynman yet available. Feynman was a man many felt close to but few really knew, and this collection reveals the full wisdom and private passion of a personality that captivated everyone it touched. Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track is an eloquent testimony to the virtue of approaching the world with an inquiring eye; it demonstrates the full extent of the Feynman legacy like never before. Edited and with additional commentary by his daughter Michelle, it's a must-read for Feynman fans everywhere, and for anyone seeking to better understand one of the towering figures—and defining personalities—of the twentieth century.

Praise for Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track

"Just when you thought the fount of Feynmaniana had run dry comes this splendid collection of letters assembled and introduced by adopted daughter Michelle....Feynman describes his elation at discovering a new law of physics: 'There was a moment when I knew how nature worked. It had elegance and beauty. The goddam thing was gleaming.'... That Gleam shines through here."
—Kirkus, starred review

"Few books really are 'a joy to read.' This one, full of charm and wisdom, truly is."
—New Scientist

"This collection of letters shows us for the first time the son caring for his father and mother, the father caring for his wife and children, the teacher caring for his students, the writer replying to people throughout the world who wrote to him about their problems and received his full and undivided attention."
—Freeman Dyson, New York Review of Books

"All that was left were his letters. With the publication of Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track, we get Feynman direct—from his mind to the stationery and into the envelope. Compiled by his daughter, Michelle Feynman, the result is a labor of love and, at times, too much of a good thing....Feynman often insisted that he couldn't write. Now we know better. It was another of his jokes."
—Los Angeles Times Book Review

"You don't have to know much about physics to scarf down Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track: The Letters of Richard P. Feynman and the heartbreaking missive he wrote to his dead wife."
—Chicago Tribune

"[A] remarkable set of letters."
—Nature

"I have never read anything like this....Anyone who is not teary-eyed after finishing it has been skimming."
—American Scientist

" Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track: The Letters of Richard P. Feynman makes palpable the legend that surrounds this Nobel laureate and Caltech physics professor nonpareil. His correspondence affords the intimate yet respectful conversation with a genius usually reserved for a close friend or member of the family."
—Christian Science Monitor

"A delightful compilation of letters."
—Skeptical Inquirer

"[Feynman's] hearty commitment to science, healthy disrespect for conformity, and terrific love of life come across in his letters, giving the impression of an intellectual adventurer. And although there is no plot or even much connectedness to speak of between sections, this quality gives the book a certain liveliness—it's fun to get to know Feynman."
—Bulletin of Atomic Scientists

Extended Copyright Information

Copyright 2005 by Michelle Feynman and Carl Feynman. Foreword copyright 2005 by Timothy Ferris. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Previously published by Basic Books, a member of the Perseus Books Group.

Photograph of Richard Feynman courtesy of California Institute of Technology Archives.

About the Author

Raised in Far Rockaway, New York, Richard Feynman received his Ph.D. from Princeton in 1942. He played an important role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II. After the war Feynman went on to teach at both Cornell University and the California Institute of Technology, and in 1965 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his research in quantum electrodynamics. Besides his work as a physicist, Feynman was at various times a raconteur, artist, bongo player, and safecracker. He died in 1988.

Opening Lines (Experimental)

When I was very young, I thought my father knew everything. Indeed, Omni magazine once declared him "The Smartest Man in the World." Upon hearing this, his mother, who was immensely proud of her son--and who had a great sense of humor--threw up her hands and exclaimed, "If Richard is the smartest ...

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