Conference 7.286::space

402.0. "Richard Feynman Passes Away" by DICKNS::KLAES (Well, I could stay for a bit longer.) Wed Feb 24 1988 20:02

From: rod@venera.isi.edu (Rodney Doyle Van Meter III)
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.space.shuttle,sci.physics
Subject: Re: Richard Feynman passes away
Date: 19 Feb 88 22:12:46 GMT
Organization: Information Sciences Institute, Univ. of So. California
 
    I know this isn't really the appropriate newsgroup for this, but I
can't resist because the man touched my life so deeply in such a brief
period. Sorry it's so long, and yet there's so much more that ought to
be said, mostly by people who new him better than I did. 
 
    Feynman was known affectionately around the Caltech campus as God.
His "Lectures on Physics" are referred to as the Bible. There are many
bright people on the faculty there, but none have influenced the life
of the campus to such a degree. His excellent teaching skills, genuine
interest in people, and personality contributed to this. Everyone who
knew him liked him. His unorthodox, irreverent attitude toward
anything and everything and his unusual manner of seeing things made
him unique among all the individuals I have ever met (and I've met
other Nobel laureates). 
 
    I have never met an individual whose intelligence shone as
brightly as did Feynman's. He had a way of looking at the world which
went beyond everything we are normally taught.  Equations were not
crutches to him as they are to so many of us. We hide behind them when
we're uncertain where we're headed, hoping something will fall out
which will enlighten us. To Feynman, they were a natural way of
expressing what he already understood. 
 
    The clarity of his vision went well beyond physics. It extended to
whatever topic caught his fancy. In his last few years, he became
interested in computer science. What might have come out of that
incredible mind in the next few years, we will never know. He had
already laid the theoretical groundwork for a quantum mechanical computer. 
 
    (I'll digress just a bit:  A calculation is made by shifting
around a single electron in appropriate patterns. The result is read
by checking your result bin (sort of an electron trap). If the
electron shows up, the answer is yes. If it doesn't, the answer is no.
Unfortunately, in the QM world, things are never 100% certain. You
improve the certainty of your answer by either increasing the amount
of energy you put into the process at the start, or by waiting longer
for your answer. So you can run your computer without any power at
all, but then you have to wait forever to be certain of your answer.
The math is very complex, but that's a simplistic view.) 
 
    I was a student in a class Feynman was teaching on the
potentialities and limitations of computers. He had (no surprise) a
different view of logic, von Neumann machines, etc. One reason his
view was so different and his understanding so deep (and his teaching
so good) was that he insisted on figuring everything out for himself.
He would read a researcher's conclusion, then work it out himself to
see whether or not he believed it. Then when he taught, he made it
sound clear and simple. Yet it never was that easy for us... 
 
    Unfortunately, in January of that year the Challenger accident
occured. He was dragged away to Washington to spend many months
telling people what took him only a few days to figure out. He
returned for visits, though, and kept us appraised as best he could.
He saw many thingswrong with NASA, and wanted to correct them all.
Unlike some of the career bureaucrats on the panel with him, he would
say anything to anyone. He was the only commission member who actually
talked to the people who put the whole system together. Without his
input, the commission might still be muddling around, trying to figure
out what happened. 
 
    He was active in his home community and was involved, when he had
the time, with student drama productions. His interests were many,
including travel, painting, and music. He also took a warmhearted
interest in his students. 
 
    His lectures on physics (for that matter, his lectures on
ANYTHING) will always stand out as a model against which poorer
teachers will be compared. 
 
    His personality, on the other hand, invites no comparison. He was
a man alone, perhaps in all the world, in many ways, and anyone whose
life he touched will never forget him. 
 
    Richard Feynman, we will miss you.
  
		--Rod

From: HIGGINS@FNALE.BITNET (Bill.Higgins@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU:HIGGINS@FNALE.BITNET,
        Beam Jockey)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Feynman's *Challenger* experiences in *Physics Today*
Date: 22 Feb 88 20:55:00 GMT

    Richard P. Feynman, the uncle of all physicists, died last week. 
How timely, then, that his picture appears on the cover of the
February *Physics Today*, illustrating his article "An Outsider's
Inside View of the Challenger Inquiry." 
 
    The article is an oral account of his experiences on the Rogers
Commission, and gives a very readable glimpse of the interaction
between NASA, the press, and the commission's members.   It's
obligatory for readers of this newsgroup, I should think. 
 
    Also in this issue is Gloria Lubkin's account (p. 69) of the Space
Future Forum in Moscow last October-- the most detailed I've seen-- as
well as other meetings with space scientists in the Soviet Union.  And
Irwin Goodwin reports on the Shuttle problems and NASA-bashing on page
49, probably old stuff to you. 
 
    *Physics Today* has pretty long deadlines, but when they do cover
a story, they often do it very well indeed.  It's one of those
magazines you should scan to keep up with good science and technology
journalism.  
 
                                       Bill Higgins
                                       Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
                                       HIGGINS@FNALB.BITNET
                                       SPAN/HEPnet: 43011::HIGGINS

    	There is a discussion on (and complete transcript of) Feynman's
    Report to the Rogers Commission on the Space Shuttle CHALLENGER
    disaster in SPACE Topic 193.
    
    	I felt Feynman's passing deserved its own Topic.
    
    	Larry
    

    Feynman was an extraordinary, but very personable individual. He
    made everyone feel at ease. I attended many of his afternoon lectures
    where he would just take questions from a curious audiance, he would
    always amaze us with his ways of distilling problems. He would blast
    out at people who would worry about factors of pi, if they missed
    physical fundamentals of problems. He did an evening lecture on
    the calendar system of ancient Mexico, amazing stuff. He made
    stuffiness in physics look silly. If you want to do something in
    his memory, just read his books, ask questions and learn.

    Richard Feynman was truly a remarkable man - A Physicist's Physicist.
     His   Lectures in Physics, a 3 volume set, were outstanding.  I
    would strongly recommend his "Character of Physical Law".  It's
    a small book based on a lecture series delivered at Cornell, as
    I recall.
    	Unfortunately most Physics courses lose the essence of Physics.
     The emphasis is on replaying already solved problems.  Feynman
    illustrated in his writings on Physical Law and in other ventures
    such as his work with the Challenger the true nature of a Physicist.
     His search for understanding and his honest pursuit is a lesson
    for us all.
    	While his work will live on, he will be sorely missed.
    Gordon

    	Next week's NOVA science series (PBS-TV) will have a program
    dedicated to Richard Feynman, including interviews made with him
    shortly before his death almost one year ago next month.
    
    	Larry