The Feynman Lectures on Physics
The Feynman Lectures on Physics including Feynman's Tips on Physics: The Definitive and Extended Edition (2nd edition, 2005)
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| Author | Richard P. Feynman, Robert B. Leighton, and Matthew Sands |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Physics |
| Publisher | Addison–Wesley |
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Publication date
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1964 |
| OCLC | 19455482 |
| Website | http://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/ |
The Feynman Lectures on Physics is a physics textbook based on some lectures by Richard P. Feynman, a Nobel laureate who has sometimes been called "The Great Explainer". The lectures were given to undergraduate students at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), during 1961–1963. The book's authors are Feynman, Robert B. Leighton, and Matthew Sands.
The textbook comprises three volumes. The first volume focuses on mechanics, radiation, and heat, including relativistic effects. The second volume covers mainly electromagnetism and matter. The third volume covers quantum mechanics; for example, it shows how the double-slit experiment demonstrates the essential features of quantum mechanics. The book also includes chapters on mathematics and the relation of physics to other sciences.
The Feynman Lectures on Physics is perhaps the most popular physics book ever written. It has been printed in a dozen languages. More than 1.5 million copies have sold in English, and probably even more copies in foreign-language editions. A 2013 review in Nature described the book as having "simplicity, beauty, unity ... presented with enthusiasm and insight".
In 2013, Caltech in cooperation with The Feynman Lectures Website made the book freely available, on the web site feynmanlectures.caltech.edu.
By 1960, Richard Feynman’s research and discoveries in physics had resolved a number of troubling inconsistencies in several fundamental theories. In particular, it was his work in quantum electrodynamics for which he was awarded the 1965 Nobel Prize in physics. At the same time that Feynman was at the pinnacle of his fame, the faculty of the California Institute of Technology was concerned about the quality of the introductory courses for undergraduate students. It was thought the courses were burdened by an old-fashioned syllabus and the exciting discoveries of recent years, many of which had occurred at Caltech, were not being taught to the students.
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