science

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! rather than just read about it. In short: "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character is an edited collection of reminiscences by the Nobel Prize–winning physicist Richard Feynman.

Key takeaways

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character is an edited collection of reminiscences by the Nobel Prize–winning physicist Richard Feynman. The book, published in 1985, covers a variety of instances in Feynman's life. The anecdotes in the book are based on recorded audio conversations that Feynman had with his close friend and drumming partner Ralph Leighton.

Summary The book has many stories which are lighthearted in tone, such as his fascination with safe-cracking, studying various languages, participating with groups of people who share different interests (such as biology or philosophy), and ventures into art and samba music. Other stories cover more serious material, including his work on the Manhattan Project (during which his first wife, Arline, died of tuberculosis) and his critique of the science education system in Brazil. The section "Monster Minds" describes his slightly nervous presentation of his graduate work on the Wheeler–Feynman absorber theory in front of Albert Einstein, Wolfgang Pauli, Henry Norris Russell, John von Neumann, and other major scientists of the time. The anecdotes were edited from taped conversations that Feynman had with his close friend and drumming partner Ralph Leighton. Its surprise success led to a sequel, What Do You Care What Other People Think?, also taken from Leighton's taped conversations. Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! became a national bestseller. The book's title is taken from a comment made by a woman at Princeton University after Feynman asked for both cream and lemon in his tea, a combination that would just curdle the cream.

Cargo Cult Science The final chapter, "Cargo Cult Science", was adapted from Feynman's 1974 commencement address at the California Institute of Technology, in which he cautioned graduates not to minimize the weaknesses of their research in the pursuit of a preferred conclusion. He drew an analogy to the cargo cult phenomenon in the South Pacific Ocean in which, as he understood it, islanders built a mock airstrip to cause airplanes loaded with imported goods to land. The cargo cult islanders carved headphones from wood and wore them while sitting in handmade lashed-up control towers. They waved landing signals to conjure the cargo planes out of the sky. Similarly, he argued, adopting the appearances of scientific investigation without a self-critical attitude will fail to produce reliable results. Feynman used the term "cargo cult" to describe situations where people focus on superficial aspects of a process without understanding the underlying principles.

Reception Feynman's "cargo cult" metaphor was used by Tomasz Witkowski in his criticism of social science and psychology in particular. In the first part of his book Psychology Led Astray, Witkowski asks "Is Psychology a Cargo Cult Science?", pointing out that the growth in the number of psychologists worldwide has been parallel with a decrease in mental health. Murray Gell-Mann was upset by Feynman's account in the book of the weak-interaction work and threatened to sue, resulting in a correction being inserted in later editions. Feynman was criticized for a chapter titled "You Just Ask Them?" where he recounts attempting to pick up a woman, insulting her after she refuses his advances.

Publication data Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character, Richard Feynman, Ralph Leighton (contributor), Edward Hutchings (editor), 1985, W. W. Norton, ISBN 0-393-01921-7, 1997 paperback: ISBN 0-393-31604-1, 2002 Blackstone Audiobooks unabridged audio cassette: ISBN 0-7861-2218-8

Citations

Gleick, James (1992). Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0679747044.

External links Quotations related to Richard Feynman at Wikiquote

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!

In research: Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1985 English-language non-fiction books, 1985 non-fiction books, American autobiographies, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! in simple terms?

"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character is an edited collection of reminiscences by the Nobel Prize–winning physicist Richard Feynman.

Why does Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!.