“Surely You’re Joking , Mr.Feynman!” - A Book Review

Introduction:
Writing a book review was not something new to me but i have to admit reading this book was new to me. In my second semester i was given the assignment of reviewing the following book.

Summary:

The book involves a detailed description about the incidents and life of the Nobel prize laureate. When one reads the book one can understand the mindset and the motivation of a successful researcher. He gives each incident in his life in detail. He starts out with how science attracted him and continues with his philosophies and his personal experiences. His unique approaches to problems time and again is pointed out here.  

“I used to cut vegetables in the kitchen. String beans had to be cut into one-inch pieces. The way you were supposed to do it was: You hold two beans in one hand, the knife in the other, and you press the knife against the beans and your thumb, almost cutting yourself. It was a slow process. So I put my mind to it, and I got a pretty good idea. I sat down at the wooden table outside the kitchen, put a bowl in my lap, and stuck a very sharp knife into the table at a forty-five-degree angle away from me. Then I put a pile of the string beans on each side, and I'd pick out a bean, one in each hand, and bring it towards me with enough speed that it would slice, and the pieces would slide into the bowl that was in my lap. “

In the above incident tells us how Richard Feynman comes with up with an alternate solution but not necessarily a better solution but then he feels it IS a better solution. His process is not necessarily faster, it just seems faster to a novice like him. The process even after his improvement will be less safer and slower than when a professional chops beans in the usual manner. But psychologically he feels he can come up with a better solution and hence is motivated to work harder.

The incident tells us how Richard Feynman is always thinking of a better way to solve things. I felt this a method by which he seems to tell himself that he is superior to others intellectually. Later he says he feels inferior to everyone else and yearns to learn more from others. I feel he wants to learn from them not only to quench his thirst for knowledge but also to prove himself superior by bettering them in their own trade.

Personal Experience:

I found it an eye opening experience. This is the first time I have actually encountered such an autobiography. I found it enlightening.

 When I read this book I found out what it takes to become a Nobel laureate ,the amount of motivation and hard work involved.

The book might not have been a page turner but each page made you wonder and reflect on the secrets of success and the power of knowledge.

I felt that reading this book has actually improved my knowledge and it will definitely come in handy when I do not know an answer in our college exams.

At times I could relate to the author. Each one of us would have broken something in our lives just to have a look inside. Each one of us would have wondered how the television or radio works and would eagerly look on when the repairmen work on the television box.

Personal Opinion:

I felt the author was not a writer rather a “scientist”. In my opinion the book lacked the creativity or the attractive narratives  that I had seen in other autobiographies.

The book more than being interesting was informative. The plain narration and lack of humour was a major disappointment for me.

Also it succumbed to the stereotype in today’s general public mindset that engineers and scientist are not poetic but rather scientific to their approach to everything in life.

 It also at times made me think how different this person is from other normal people and made me wonder whether all scientist were like this person.

Overall I would not recommend this book to everybody. This book is for those who are ready to dedicate their lives for science, to understand the philosophy of the world or to motivate themselves for a higher goal.