The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist
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- Create Date：2021-04-12 11:56:43
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Richard P. Feynman
- ISBN：0465023940
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Summary
Many appreciate Richard P。 Feynman's contributions to twentieth-century physics， but few realize how engaged he was with the world around him -- how deeply and thoughtfully he considered the religious， political， and social issues of his day。 Now， a wonderful book -- based on a previously unpublished， three-part public lecture he gave at the University of Washington in 1963 -- shows us this other side of Feynman， as he expounds on the inherent conflict between science and religion， people's distrust of politicians， and our universal fascination with flying saucers， faith healing， and mental telepathy。 Here we see Feynman in top form: nearly bursting into a Navajo war chant， then pressing for an overhaul of the English language （if you want to know why Johnny can't read， just look at the spelling of "friend"）; and， finally， ruminating on the death of his first wife from tuberculosis。 This is quintessential Feynman -- reflective， amusing， and ever enlightening。
Reviews
Santosh Shetty
，
Scientific perspectives to societal problems; more philosophical than hard science。
Ela C
，
În această carte modernă， Richard Feynman pornește o amplă dezbatere（el cu cititorul） despre ce este știința。 Va răspunde acestei întrebări？Pot spune că este de ajutor bogăția materialului studiat și exemple practice（uneori mult prea avansate pentru un novice al fizicii）。Feynman acoperă multe dintre problemele moderne ale științei: etica， morala VS știința， religia， etc。 Îmi place bogăția temelor abordate și cum el definește totul în raport cu cercetarea științifică。 Într-un climat al incertitud În această carte modernă， Richard Feynman pornește o amplă dezbatere（el cu cititorul） despre ce este știința。 Va răspunde acestei întrebări？Pot spune că este de ajutor bogăția materialului studiat și exemple practice（uneori mult prea avansate pentru un novice al fizicii）。Feynman acoperă multe dintre problemele moderne ale științei: etica， morala VS știința， religia， etc。 Îmi place bogăția temelor abordate și cum el definește totul în raport cu cercetarea științifică。 Într-un climat al incertitudinii， religia vine să spulbere fundamentul cercetării printr-o certitudine cultivată。 Știința este incertitudine。Nu te apuci de un experiment cu un plan despre care ești sigur că este infailibil。 De fapt， te apuci din speranță pură că vei descoperi ceva。 Poți citi mai mult aici:https://carteanoua。ro/richard-feynman。。。 。。。more
Emre Erdem
，
Feynman'ın bilim felsefesine dair söyledikleri yeni ateizme üye olan herkesin okuması gerek Feynman'ın bilim felsefesine dair söyledikleri yeni ateizme üye olan herkesin okuması gerek 。。。more
Ashik Uzzaman
，
Last week I finished "The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist" by Richard P。 Feynman。 This is a 3 lecture series by Feynman that was compiled together as a book later。 I found the book good but not as good as his 2 other books I read a few years ago。 In this book he talks about the inherent conflict between science and religion， people's distrust of politicians and many other social issues。 I read Feynman's “Surely You’re Joking， Mr。 Feynman！”: Adventures of a Curious Character an Last week I finished "The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist" by Richard P。 Feynman。 This is a 3 lecture series by Feynman that was compiled together as a book later。 I found the book good but not as good as his 2 other books I read a few years ago。 In this book he talks about the inherent conflict between science and religion， people's distrust of politicians and many other social issues。 I read Feynman's “Surely You’re Joking， Mr。 Feynman！”: Adventures of a Curious Character and "What Do You Care What Other People Think？": Further Adventures of a Curious Character earlier and enjoyed both of those thoroughly。Source: https://www。dragon-bishop。com/2021/03。。。 。。。more
Volo Bonetskyy
，
Everything from Feynman is 5 stars。 Doesn't matter if you agree with him or not， the way Feynman thinks is just special and very engaging。 One of the greatest minds of 20th century for me Everything from Feynman is 5 stars。 Doesn't matter if you agree with him or not， the way Feynman thinks is just special and very engaging。 One of the greatest minds of 20th century for me 。。。more
Jessica Newton
，
I wanted to like this book。 To an extent， I did like this book。I liked the first two sections about science and values， though the way Feynman stated things was a tad muddled and hard to follow （his syntax， not his thoughts themselves）。The last section， however， was an absolute mess from what I could follow。 Once again， it was not his observations or thoughts so much as the way he expressed them。 They were confusing， they jumped around seemingly at random。 It was hard to follow。I purchased this I wanted to like this book。 To an extent， I did like this book。I liked the first two sections about science and values， though the way Feynman stated things was a tad muddled and hard to follow （his syntax， not his thoughts themselves）。The last section， however， was an absolute mess from what I could follow。 Once again， it was not his observations or thoughts so much as the way he expressed them。 They were confusing， they jumped around seemingly at random。 It was hard to follow。I purchased this book because I was familiar with Feynman in name， if not with his work。 I read it hoping for an introduction to him as a person and as a scientist。I finished the book feeling disappointed。 It started so well and I was excited for the majority of the book， only to be left confused at the end。I may try another book by him or about him， but I'm not as enthusiastic as I was before unfortunately。 。。。more
Humberto
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Excellent quick read。 Sharp mind。
Nina Cast
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I love Feynman， he's one of my heroes， but this was kind of hard to read - it was like a transcription of his exact words spoken at a conference， complete with half completed sentences and such。 The sentiments were still all him and all great， but given that this was a book and not a tape recording， a bit of editing would not have been unappreciated。 I love Feynman， he's one of my heroes， but this was kind of hard to read - it was like a transcription of his exact words spoken at a conference， complete with half completed sentences and such。 The sentiments were still all him and all great， but given that this was a book and not a tape recording， a bit of editing would not have been unappreciated。 。。。more
Clifton
，
a complilation of some of the greatest physisist: Richard Feynman's lectures。 The down to earth yet brilliant thinking of the Feynman could be seen throughout the course of his lectures。 a complilation of some of the greatest physisist: Richard Feynman's lectures。 The down to earth yet brilliant thinking of the Feynman could be seen throughout the course of his lectures。 。。。more
Anna
，
This little book is a transcription of a three-part lecture series that Feynman gave at the University of Washington in 1963。 The topics range from the relationship between science， religion， and politics to the faulty use of statistics in advertising。 None of it requires any scientific knowledge to understand - which is a rarity in the lectures of such renowned scientists。 Some of it does talk specifically about the methodology of science， and since I am a scientist in my "real" life， I can't s This little book is a transcription of a three-part lecture series that Feynman gave at the University of Washington in 1963。 The topics range from the relationship between science， religion， and politics to the faulty use of statistics in advertising。 None of it requires any scientific knowledge to understand - which is a rarity in the lectures of such renowned scientists。 Some of it does talk specifically about the methodology of science， and since I am a scientist in my "real" life， I can't say for sure that everyone would find it interesting。 Feynman's explanation of why scientists often tend towards being less religious， despite the lack of a necessary contradiction between science and religion， was fascinating。 His thoughts on politics and why campaign promises are rarely kept prove， frankly， that the country has not changed so much since 1963 - or perhaps that it is merely the nature of American democracy。 It is difficult to believe the lectures were given sixty years ago; as it is so pertinent。 The only thing that briefly bothered me was a semi-positive connotation attached to Columbus。TL;DR: If you enjoy deep thoughts about science and society， you'll enjoy this book （and it's just over 100 pages）。 。。。more
Vlejd
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It hurts me to say this， but this one felt more as an empty ramble :（
AttackGirl
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Interesting。。。。。 maybe， but I would need more facts！
S G Akshaykumar
，
Feynman is gold。 As usual。 These are non technical lectures。 More about philosophical relationships between science， religion and society。P。S: The physical book is a bit clumsy because these are transcripts of speeches。 Better listen to it as Audiobook。
Lenora Good
，
I feel like I’m committing a heinous crime in giving this book only 3 stars。 I love Feynman’s books， but this one， well， meh。 Perhaps， had I attended the lectures at the University of Washington， I would have enjoyed the book more， but I found them to be meandering， with little to no point。 I gather from some of his remarks， they were humorous， but on the page， the humor fell flat。 Read his other books but skip this one。 This isn’t a bad book but it isn’t a good one， either。
Shahid
，
Richard Feynman a physicist， a picker of locks， a bongo player， a Mayan hierographic decipherer， a dancer， an artist and an academic genius。 This book defines bunch of things for laymen and is comprised of 3 lectures that he gave in 1963。 ''The Uncertainty of science The uncertainty of values The Unscientific age'' Feynman touches on vast subjects of elementary science， ancient beliefs， the soviet era， Russia's scientific temper and religious fanaticism and politics but he resists from digging d Richard Feynman a physicist， a picker of locks， a bongo player， a Mayan hierographic decipherer， a dancer， an artist and an academic genius。 This book defines bunch of things for laymen and is comprised of 3 lectures that he gave in 1963。 ''The Uncertainty of science The uncertainty of values The Unscientific age'' Feynman touches on vast subjects of elementary science， ancient beliefs， the soviet era， Russia's scientific temper and religious fanaticism and politics but he resists from digging deeper。Of course the lectures are tenacious teachings but it is antiquated。 Feynman preserves the philosophy of science and its vastness but this was not at his prime。 I swiftly ran through the last chapter because of the hasty inexactness and so on。 Hope I'm not too critical of Feynman but this posthumous book is just not what i expected my first read to be。 。。。more
Kevin Mora
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One of my favorite œuvres！What's science？ It's a special method of finding things out – the body of knowledge arising from the things find out！ Of course， there's more than just curiosity: technology – id est， the new things you can do when you have found something out。If we make good things， it is not only to the credit of science; it is also to the credit of the moral choice which led us to good work。 Scientific knowledge is an enabling power to do either good or bad — but it does not carry in One of my favorite œuvres！What's science？ It's a special method of finding things out – the body of knowledge arising from the things find out！ Of course， there's more than just curiosity: technology – id est， the new things you can do when you have found something out。If we make good things， it is not only to the credit of science; it is also to the credit of the moral choice which led us to good work。 Scientific knowledge is an enabling power to do either good or bad — but it does not carry instructions on how to use it。 Such power has evident value — even though the power may be negated by what one does。I loved when Feynman was inspired by a Buddhist: “To every man is given the key to the gates of heaven; the same key opens the gates of hell。”What， then， is the value of the key to heaven？ It is true that if we lack clear instructions that determine which is the gate to heaven and which the gate to hell， the key may be a dangerous object to use， but it obviously has value。 How can we enter heaven without it？The instructions， also， would be of no value without the key。 So it is evident that， in spite of the fact that science could produce enormous horror in the world， it is of value because it can produce something。But I would like not to underestimate the value of the worldview which is the result of scientific effort。 We have been led to imagine all sorts of things infinitely more marvelous than the imaginings of poets and dreamers of the past。 It shows that the imagination of nature is far， far greater than the imagination of man。 For instance， how much more remarkable it is for us all to be stuck-half of us upside down — by a mysterious attraction， to a spinning ball that has been swinging in space for billions of years， than to be carried on the back of an elephant supported on a tortoise swimming in a bottomless sea。 。。。more
Aditya Nagar
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It is marvelous the way Feynman used to teach and this book indeed do not contain any theory of physics or formula or any mathematic equation but it contains some very valuable knowledge which Feynman could give us。
Muna Ers
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معنى كل شيء كتاب لعالم الفيزياء ريتشارد فاينمان و هو حاصل على جائزة نوبل بالفيزياء بسبب تطوير الكهروديناميكا الكميةالكتاب قراءة سريعة ، تشعر وأنه يحدثك مباشرة دون تكليف، ببساطة ، كأي حوار لصديق لك ينتقل من موضوع لموضوع بسلاسة رائعة。。 طرح عدة افكار من ضمنها قيمة الشك ، و عن طبيعة العلم ، ان كان خيرا （ كالعلاجات ） او شرا （ كتطوير اسلحة الدمار شامل） تحدث عن جماليات التصور الخرافي القديم للكون ، فالارض معلقة على ظهر فيل ، و لكن دون تفسير لوضعية البحار ، ثم قارنها بنظرة العلم للارض ، فرغم اننا نعرف ا معنى كل شيء كتاب لعالم الفيزياء ريتشارد فاينمان و هو حاصل على جائزة نوبل بالفيزياء بسبب تطوير الكهروديناميكا الكميةالكتاب قراءة سريعة ، تشعر وأنه يحدثك مباشرة دون تكليف، ببساطة ، كأي حوار لصديق لك ينتقل من موضوع لموضوع بسلاسة رائعة。。 طرح عدة افكار من ضمنها قيمة الشك ، و عن طبيعة العلم ، ان كان خيرا （ كالعلاجات ） او شرا （ كتطوير اسلحة الدمار شامل） تحدث عن جماليات التصور الخرافي القديم للكون ، فالارض معلقة على ظهر فيل ، و لكن دون تفسير لوضعية البحار ، ثم قارنها بنظرة العلم للارض ، فرغم اننا نعرف الان شكلها و موقعها من المجموعة الشمسية الا انه ما زال هناك الكثير لا نعلمه （ هذا النقصان بالمعرفة حسب السياق لا يجعلنا متفوقين على من قبلنا و سبقونا بل نحن مثلهم نسعى للمعرفة حسب ما نمتلكه من ادوات ） 。。。لفت نظري بالكتاب تواضع هذا العالم ، و تكراره لجملة " لا أعلم ، و ابتعاده عن التعقيد في الطرح ، و هذا يذكرني شخصيا بجملة قلتها سابقا : انني لاحظت ان هناك علاقة عكسية بين تعقيد المصطلحات و الثقافة ، فتجد ان طفيليات الثقافة المحسوبين على المثقفين ، يتعمدون بالنقاشات بحشو الفكرة بالمصطلحات السمينة و الدسمة لنفش الريش، حيلة حيوانية تذكرني بذكر الطاووس الذي ينفش ريشه لاخافة العدو ، او للفت نظر الانثى بالريش و القشور 。 تجد هذه النماذج معتدة بريشها اكثر مما بعتد عالم كهذا بجائزة نوبل。。 ما علينا 。。تحدث ايضا عن علاقة العلم بالدين ، العلم و الاخلاق، انتقد الاتحاد السوفييتي ذاكرا امثلة توضح كيف انعكس استحواذ الدولة على الاقتصاد بتراجع الدولة علميا ،و تحدث عن الكيفية التي نحكم بها على ظواهر ما وراء الطبيعة ، كيف يرفضها هو بطريقة علمية 。。 كتاب ممتع اعجبتني به المقولة الاتية:Some people say， How can you live without knowing？ I do not know what they mean。 I always live without knowing。 That is easy。 How you get to know is what I want to know。الترجمة:البعض يسألني: كيف تعيش دون ان تعلم ؟ لا اعرف ماذا يعنون دائما اعيش دون ان اعلم 。。 هذا سهل ،ما أريد معرفته هو :كيف أعرف 。。。more
Robert Holt
，
Always nice to look into the mind of a genius。
Oleksiy Kovyrin
，
Started off great， but ended with an hour of rambling on irrelevant political matters of the days long gone。 Still， some really great points on the scientific approach in different areas of our lives。
Enis
，
yaşamı sadeleştirdiğimizde her şeyi daha net görmeye başlarız。 dünya fizik tarihinde çok saygın bir yere sahip Feynman'ın üç konuşmasını içeren bu kitapta， bilimin dünyaya hangi bakış açılarından yaklaştığını gördüğümüz kadar yaşamın hangi detaylara yoğunlaştığını da görüyoruz。 Hiç bir şeyi bilmemek ve şüpheci yaklaşımlar hayalgücümüzle birleştiğinde büyük bilimsel kuralların gözümüzün önünde olması。 Zevkle okunuyor ve etrafınızdaki "şeyler"e bakış açınızı farklılaştırıyor。 yaşamı sadeleştirdiğimizde her şeyi daha net görmeye başlarız。 dünya fizik tarihinde çok saygın bir yere sahip Feynman'ın üç konuşmasını içeren bu kitapta， bilimin dünyaya hangi bakış açılarından yaklaştığını gördüğümüz kadar yaşamın hangi detaylara yoğunlaştığını da görüyoruz。 Hiç bir şeyi bilmemek ve şüpheci yaklaşımlar hayalgücümüzle birleştiğinde büyük bilimsel kuralların gözümüzün önünde olması。 Zevkle okunuyor ve etrafınızdaki "şeyler"e bakış açınızı farklılaştırıyor。 。。。more
Gutlymyrat Yegendurdyyev
，
Edil häzirki döwürde akademikler ylym bilen meşgullanýan beýleki adamlar Feynman ýaly pikirlenýändirler öýdemok。 Sebäbi onuň pikirleniş usuly köneleşen usul ýaly geldi。 Ylym diýlen zady， poçti， hemme problemanyň çözgüdi ýaly hödürläp çenden-aşa ideallaşdyrmagy kän ýokmady。Ýöne， elbetde wagt gidereniňe degip biläýjek esermikä diýýän ýene-de。。。
Layth Salah
，
Biased & Pretentious。 The ideas are not organized。 The discussion is biased and I can feel a sort of arrogance in the way that some of the ideas a discussed which goes against the concepts of what the book is about。
Alex Shrugged
，
Generally I liked this audiobook a lot。 I disagreed here and there but it was mostly because I thought that Dr。 Feynman was being too literal in regards to rhetorical phrases。 He points out that these don't make sense and in a literal analysis， they don't。 On the other hand， they help。He allowed for people to have differing opinions and I'm with him on that。 He was attempting to teach critical thinking and I am also with him on that。 If I had known him I think we would have gotten along。I'd read Generally I liked this audiobook a lot。 I disagreed here and there but it was mostly because I thought that Dr。 Feynman was being too literal in regards to rhetorical phrases。 He points out that these don't make sense and in a literal analysis， they don't。 On the other hand， they help。He allowed for people to have differing opinions and I'm with him on that。 He was attempting to teach critical thinking and I am also with him on that。 If I had known him I think we would have gotten along。I'd read/listen to these lectures again。Here is a list of the 3 lectures。。。1。 The Uncertainty of Science2。 The Uncertainty of Values3。 This Unscientific Age 。。。more
Aga Szóstek
，
Richard Feynman has fascinating perspectives as always。 However， the fact that this book is practically a transcript of his lectures makes it a little harder to read than other books by him。 Nonetheless， worthwhile checking out。
Xavier Krull
，
Feynman himself is a staple of scientific reading， but the lecture dialogue is difficult to follow in a written format。 A good choice for anybody interested in the position of science and its practitioners in society。
Ganimarepublic
，
Bilimin de her şey gibi piyasanın emrine girdiği bir çağda， Feynman gibi duru bir zihnin nerede ise her konudaki açık， samimi， içten düşüncelerine vurulmamak mümkün değil。 Dildeki sadelik， akıcılık da， şahane çeviri ile kendisinden hiç bir şey kaybetmeden karşımıza gelmiş。 Uzun zamandır okuduğum en direkt metinler。 Feynman'ın tanrı inancı ve bilim arasındaki ilişkiyi anlattığı bölümdeki bold'luğu， cesareti için de ayrıca elini sıkmak isterdim。（Bizzat şüphe etmeyi yasaklayan bir yapı içerisinde i Bilimin de her şey gibi piyasanın emrine girdiği bir çağda， Feynman gibi duru bir zihnin nerede ise her konudaki açık， samimi， içten düşüncelerine vurulmamak mümkün değil。 Dildeki sadelik， akıcılık da， şahane çeviri ile kendisinden hiç bir şey kaybetmeden karşımıza gelmiş。 Uzun zamandır okuduğum en direkt metinler。 Feynman'ın tanrı inancı ve bilim arasındaki ilişkiyi anlattığı bölümdeki bold'luğu， cesareti için de ayrıca elini sıkmak isterdim。（Bizzat şüphe etmeyi yasaklayan bir yapı içerisinde iyi bilim yapmak mümkün mü diye soruyor Richard Feynman ve net bir şekilde olamayacağını da anlatıyor。 。。。more
GS
，
Review of the audiobook published by Blackstone audio:It feels strange giving a 3* rating to a Feynman book， but hey， I have good reasons for it。。 Feynman himself says in this book not to take anyone's word as gospel， so there！ This book is a collection of 3 lectures Feynman gave at some point in his life。 According to Wikipedia， Feynman didn't really want his 3 talks published， and having read this， I suspect he didn't think highly of the quality of the content he came up with either。。 First of Review of the audiobook published by Blackstone audio:It feels strange giving a 3* rating to a Feynman book， but hey， I have good reasons for it。。 Feynman himself says in this book not to take anyone's word as gospel， so there！ This book is a collection of 3 lectures Feynman gave at some point in his life。 According to Wikipedia， Feynman didn't really want his 3 talks published， and having read this， I suspect he didn't think highly of the quality of the content he came up with either。。 First off， the title of this book is enormously misleading。 Feynman talks things non-physics， but a more apt title would have been "Some random musings on religion， USSR， politics， and miscellaneous topics。" A title "Meaning of it all" carries with it a certain weight of expectation - I expected this to be Feynman's take on the meaning of life， universe and all in it; so you can imagine my disappointment in what I got - which ended up being a lot of meandering thoughts， a good chunk of which was anti-communist "rant" for lack of a better word。That is not to say there isn't goodness in these lectures - brilliance shines through once in a while; and I will include the pieces that stood out to me below。 1） There is a very logical discussion on religion in the 2nd chapter。 Feynman characterizes the role of religion as 3 fold historically: Metaphysical， guidance on values， and providing inspiration。 Metaphysical is essentially the idea of "world was made by God， humans are precious to God， God looks after humans etc。" With the advent of science， this historical role religion played has been largely undermined。 But science cannot guide on values （it can only tell you what can happen， whether that is something desirable or not is outside its purview） or provide inspiration （the sense of meaning in living life the way it is meant to be or the feeling of purpose） - religion can; and it （minus the metaphysical aspect of it） can thus form a coherent belief system with science。 The challenge is this: Taking religion as the guide for values & the inspiration on how to live the righteous life is rooted in its Metaphysicality i。e。 God created the universe & looks after me， so I live life by the values guided by （Him） and I have a purpose provided by that。 Eroding the metaphysical foundation of religion （which science has done） brings up the question of: "How do I know this is right？" and invariably ends up shaking the foundation of religion。 Feynman leaves this question unresolved with an "I don't know"， having shared his logical， well-formulated thoughts。2） There is a discussion in the 3rd chapter about unscientific human tendencies including a tendency for "wisdom after the fact"。 Feynman shares the story of how a watch he bought for his wife stopped at the same time she died。 We tend to associate deeper meaning to such events， without asking "how many times had the watch stopped and she did not die"， and the sensitivity of the mechanical structure of the watch to being touched etc。 This story gave me pause on many things we trust as instinct based on past experience。。 Barring some of these brilliant vignettes， this book is unfortunately one that commits the sin of "overpromise and underdeliver。" Ok to miss。 。。。more
Lee。
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by no means perfect， i give it 5 stars as a Lenny/Dick-antiStan stan
Shsam
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