from Hacker News

Feynman Lectures on Physics (1964)

by sethbannon on 5/21/23, 3:34 AM with 67 comments

• by mutant_glofish on 5/21/23, 4:01 AM

  > Feynman Lectures on Physics now online

  It's been online since 2013. [1][2]

  [1]: https://www.openculture.com/2013/09/the-famous-feynman-lectu...

  [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Feynman_Lectu...

• by nologic01 on 5/21/23, 11:06 AM

  Its Volume III (quantum mechanics) that really changed physics education, imho.

  It dispensed with a long tradition of continuous PDE's (Schrödinger equation) based approaches (which needlessly obscured the essence of quantum behavior) and brought to the fore discrete systems (like spin) and the beautiful Dirac notation (so he, too, stood on giant's shoulders).

  Feynman really is the grand-master of KISS and the nemesis of obfuscation.

  We should all be a little bit like Feynman.

• by codelieb on 5/21/23, 5:12 PM

  If you folks have any questions about the Feynman Lectures Website, the online edition of The Feynman Lectures on Physics, the current ("New Millennium") printed edition (or ePub or Mobi editions), then you can ask me. I am the person who is primarily responsible for them. The same goes for the previous ("Definitive") edition. I've been working with The Feynman Lectures on Physics for about 23 years.

• by utopcell on 5/21/23, 4:09 AM

  Given that these are ~60 years old by now, can someone that knows both the fields they cover and has gone through them explain what, if anything, they are missing ?

• by Gunax on 5/21/23, 4:55 AM

  There is something different about the way the Feyman lectures is written.

  It's been years since I have read it, but I remember it explaining how one could derive the change in atmospheric pressure with altitude by just knowing a few properties of the gas.

  I don't remember the derivation, and I am not sure I could reproduce it. But it changed how I thought about a lot of physical phenomena.

• by vmilner on 5/21/23, 8:48 AM

  I really like the extra audio bits before and after the lectures proper - they were removed on the commercial CDs. (“Why don’t they turn up on time!”)

• by DirectorKrennic on 5/21/23, 3:53 AM

  What sets physics apart from the other physical sciences that there are no "X Lectures on Chemistry" or "Y Lectures on Biology"? Surely if there was a will, there would be a way. Genuine question. Feynman's work may not be the be-all, end-all of physics, but it covers every base. Would it be possible to do that for other fields?

• by revskill on 5/21/23, 5:13 AM

  The writing style is practical, straight-forward to me. Such an inspiration to the world of Science.

• by linuxhansl on 5/21/23, 5:31 AM

  I bought the printed versions about 15 years ago, not to prepare for anything but to "leisurely" read about Physics.

  Richard Feynman had the uncanny ability to explain something at a level where it makes sense, and then back it all up for math.

• by JKCalhoun on 5/21/23, 11:40 AM

  I was saddened at the poor audio quality of the audio lectures. Surely someone could thrown AI at it to improve the quality.

• by PeterStuer on 5/21/23, 4:02 PM

  I remember having volume 1 on 6 cassette tapes for listening in the car. Peak entertainment in those days kids.

• by eftychis on 5/21/23, 4:21 AM

  Can we get a 2013 added to the title?

• by dang on 5/21/23, 5:44 AM

  Related:

  The Feynman Lectures on Physics (1964) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30792902 - March 2022 (62 comments)

  The Feynman Lectures on Physics Audio Collection - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27322636 - May 2021 (98 comments)

  The Feynman Lectures on Physics: The Principle of Least Action (1963) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20694173 - Aug 2019 (20 comments)

  Feynman Lectures on Physics Vol. I Ch. 22: Algebra - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20691771 - Aug 2019 (1 comment)

  The Feynman Lectures on Physics: Algebra (1963) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20672605 - Aug 2019 (40 comments)

  The Feynman Lectures on Physics now free - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19887468 - May 2019 (27 comments)

  The Feynman Lectures on Physics (2013) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13368748 - Jan 2017 (38 comments)

  The Feynman Lectures on Physics Now Completely Online (2014) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10960310 - Jan 2016 (12 comments)

  The Feynman Lectures on Physics are free online - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10390296 - Oct 2015 (20 comments)

  Feynman Lectures on Physics now free online - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8216546 - Aug 2014 (93 comments)

  The Feynman Lectures on Physics (all 3 volumes) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8210516 - Aug 2014 (1 comment)

  The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume II - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6945734 - Dec 2013 (22 comments)

  The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume III - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6844758 - Dec 2013 (6 comments)

  The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume III - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6791153 - Nov 2013 (21 comments)

  The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume I - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6380187 - Sept 2013 (112 comments)

• by plumeria on 5/21/23, 4:38 AM

  Why do they repeat in the audio the lecture title and date three times?

• by p-e-w on 5/21/23, 4:01 AM

  The title is misleading. That website has existed for a long, long time. I remember reading lectures there at least five years ago.

  Unfortunately, I cannot prove it, because the domain has been excluded from the Internet Archive for some reason. But I can tell you with complete confidence that the lectures have not just "now" gone online.

• by elashri on 5/21/23, 4:44 AM

  Is this new? I can't find previous version of this page on Internet archive and the page footer did not get updated since 2013 (at least it suggests that the content updated last time in 2013)

  > Copyright © 1963-1965, 2006, 2013 by the California Institute of Technology, Michael A. Gottlieb and Rudolf Pfeiffer

  Edit: It seems that I'm wrong. There is mention that they updated Original Course Handouts in 2022

  > 6. Updated in March 2022 with a new presentation featuring deep-zoomable images.

• by itshossein on 5/21/23, 4:41 AM

  "However, we want to be clear that this edition is only free to read, look at and listen to online, and this posting does not transfer any right to download all or any portion of the book The Feynman Lectures on Physics, its photos or tape recordings, for any purpose."