The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist.Richard P. Feynman. The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist. Reading, MA: Perseus, 1998. In April 1963, Richard P. Feynman--a Nobel prize-winning physicist and polymath pol·y·math n. A person of great or varied learning. [Greek polumath , who was at various times an artist, a dancer, a bongo bongo (bŏng`gō), spiral-horned antelope, Boocercus eurycerus, found in jungles and thick bamboo forests of equatorial Africa. Shy, elusive animals, bongos never emerge into the open and are seldom seen; they browse singly or in small player, and a repairer of radios--was invited to give a three-night series of lectures at the University of Washington in Seattle. This book contains those lectures. Feynman's first lecture was titled "The Uncertainty of Science." In it, he talks about the dual effects that science can have on the world. For example, scientific technology improves production, but we have trouble with automation. It brings about advances in medicine, but then we worry about the number of births and the fact that no one dies from the diseases we have eliminated. It produces rapid air transportation, but it also makes possible the severe horrors of air war. In a sense, Feynman argues, science is like a key that can open the gates to heaven or hell. Which portal the key unlocks depends on the humans who employ it. In lecture two, "The Uncertainty of Values," Feynman argues that at the worst times in human history, many people believed in something with absolute dogmatic dog·mat·ic adj. 1. Relating to, characteristic of, or resulting from dogma. 2. Characterized by an authoritative, arrogant assertion of unproved or unprovable principles. See Synonyms at dictatorial. faith. They were so serious in this matter that they insisted that the rest of the world agree with them. Then they would do things directly inconsistent with their own beliefs in order to maintain that what they said was true. To prevent such blockages to thinking, Feynman suggests adopting an attitude of curiosity and uncertainty. That's what scientists do when they do science. In lecture three, "This Unscientific unscientific Unproven, see there Age," Feynman provides a wide-ranging discourse on a variety of topics, including our fascination with flying saucers, faith healing faith healing, relief or cure of bodily ills through some religious attitude on the part of the sufferer. In the Jewish and Christian traditions prayers for cures and miracles are usual; thus the apostles developed a ritual of healing (James 5. and telepathy telepathy, supposed communication between two persons without recourse to the senses. The word was formulated in 1882 by Frederic William Henry Myers, English poet, essayist, and a leading founder of the Society for Psychical Research in London. ; and people's distrust of politicians. To overcome this problem, Feynman believes that our leaders should practice "abject honesty." That means saying not only what is "true," but making clear the entire situation. Feynman demonstrates abject honesty in The Meaning of It All, with respect to his thinking on life, religion, politics, science, and a myriad of other topics. The book shows the essential Feynman: reflective, amusing, and ever enlightening en·light·en tr.v. en·light·ened, en·light·en·ing, en·light·ens 1. To give spiritual or intellectual insight to: . EDITOR: MARTIN H. LEVINSON, PH.D. |
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