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Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character) Paperback – April 17, 1997

by Richard P. Feynman (Author), Ralph Leighton (Author), Edward Hutchings (Editor),

12,440 ratings

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A New York Times bestseller―the outrageous exploits of one of this century's greatest scientific minds and a legendary American original.

Richard Feynman, winner of the Nobel Prize in physics, thrived on outrageous adventures. Here he recounts in his inimitable voice his experience trading ideas on atomic physics with Einstein and Bohr and ideas on gambling with Nick the Greek; cracking the uncrackable safes guarding the most deeply held nuclear secrets; accompanying a ballet on his bongo drums; painting a naked female toreador. In short, here is Feynman's life in all its eccentric―a combustible mixture of high intelligence, unlimited curiosity, and raging chutzpah.

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I learned there that innovation is a very difficult thing in the real world.
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They had wasted all their time memorizing stuff like that, when it could be looked up in fifteen minutes.
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Of course, you only live one life, and you make all your mistakes, and learn what not to do, and that’s the end of you.
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WARNING: California’s Proposition 65

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A series of anecdotes shouldn't by rights add up to an autobiography, but that's just one of the many pieces of received wisdom that Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman (1918-88) cheerfully ignores in his engagingly eccentric book, a bestseller ever since its initial publication in 1985. Fiercely independent (read the chapter entitled "Judging Books by Their Covers"), intolerant of stupidity even when it comes packaged as high intellectualism (check out "Is Electricity Fire?"), unafraid to offend (see "You Just Ask Them?"), Feynman informs by entertaining. It's possible to enjoy Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman simply as a bunch of hilarious yarns with the smart-alecky author as know-it-all hero. At some point, however, attentive readers realize that underneath all the merriment simmers a running commentary on what constitutes authentic knowledge: learning by understanding, not by rote; refusal to give up on seemingly insoluble problems; and total disrespect for fancy ideas that have no grounding in the real world. Feynman himself had all these qualities in spades, and they come through with vigor and verve in his no-bull prose. No wonder his students--and readers around the world--adored him. --Wendy Smith

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“A storyteller in the tradition of Mark Twain. He proves once again that it is possible to laugh out loud and scratch your head at the same time.”
- New York Times Book Review

“Quintessential Feynman―funny, brilliant, bawdy . . . enormously entertaining.”
- The New Yorker

“Buzzes with energy, anecdote and life. It almost makes you want to become a physicist.”
- Science Digest

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition (April 17, 1997)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393316041
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393316049
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1 x 8.3 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #441,725 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #242 in Science Essays & Commentary (Books)
- #991 in Scientist Biographies
- #3,114 in Physics (Books)

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Bill Gates
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Bill Gates is a technologist, business leader, and philanthropist. In 1975, he co-founded Microsoft with his childhood friend Paul Allen and today he is chair of the Gates Foundation. Bill is the founder of Breakthrough Energy, an effort to commercialize clean energy and other climate-related technologies, and TerraPower, a company investing in developing groundbreaking nuclear technologies. He has three children.
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Richard P. Feynman
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Richard P. Feynman was born in 1918 and grew up in Far Rockaway, New York. At the age of seventeen he entered MIT and in 1939 went to Princeton, then to Los Alamos, where he joined in the effort to build the atomic bomb. Following World War II he joined the physics faculty at Cornell, then went on to Caltech in 1951, where he taught until his death in 1988. He shared the Nobel Prize for physics in 1965, and served with distinction on the Shuttle Commission in 1986. A commemorative stamp in his name was issued by the U.S. Postal Service in 2005.
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Ralph Leighton
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Ralph Leighton (born 13 November 1949) is a biographer, film producer, and friend of the late physicist Richard Feynman. He recorded Feynman relating stories of his life. Leighton has released some of the recordings as The Feynman Tapes. These interviews became the basis for the books Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! and What Do You Care What Other People Think?, which were later combined into the hardcover anniversary edition Classic Feynman: All the Adventures of a Curious Character. Leighton is an amateur drummer and founder of the group Friends of Tuva. In 1990 he wrote Tuva or Bust! Richard Feynman's Last Journey.
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Edward Hutchings
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Customers say

Customers find the book entertaining with funny anecdotes and insightful life stories, highlighting Feynman's profound intellect and amazing sense of curiosity. They appreciate the author's down-to-earth writing style and consider Feynman one of the most respected physicists ever. While many customers enjoy the book, some find it boring.

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Readability Insight Humor Storyteller Scientist Character development Writing style Boredom

621 customers mention "Readability"577 positive44 negative

Customers find the book highly readable, describing it as a fun little read with entertaining stories.

"...Five stars, recommended for people who want to read an interesting and fun book." Read more

"...He was truly a unique, brilliant and whacky polymath, and a legend in his own life." Read more

"...of teaching is evident in his story, as when he talks, he talks about the story slowly so that you don't know what will happen until the very end...." Read more

"...I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I think you will too if you have any kind of curiosity at all. If you don't, stop using my air." Read more

354 customers mention "Insight"346 positive8 negative

Customers appreciate the book's profound intellect and interesting life stories, noting the author's amazing sense of curiosity and imaginative, intuitive thinking.

"...It's a biography but consisting of short stories of interesting events that happened in the life of Nobel Prize Winner Richard Feynman who seemed to..." Read more

"...I find his collection of stories remarkable, as he tells about his experiments from watching his dreams, to understanding how ants find their paths...." Read more

"...all his own, a born storyteller with gift of gab and an extremely inquisitive nature who also immersed himself in music and art...." Read more

"...for a young person interested in science and living a full, meaningful life." Read more

214 customers mention "Humor"204 positive10 negative

Customers enjoy the book's humor, finding it full of funny anecdotes that make them chuckle.

"...Now I did and I'm glad I did because I found it one of the most funny and insightful books that I've read recently...." Read more

"...Did I mention this book is very funny? At many points, I found myself laughing out loud...." Read more

"...They are interesting and sometimes funny, but it's hard to believe that he was a serious Nobel physicist." Read more

"...all of which are rich with adventure, sound scientific thinking and humor...." Read more

204 customers mention "Storyteller"194 positive10 negative

Customers enjoy the many tales of Feynman's life and find him to be a great storyteller.

"...of stories from throughout Richard Feynman's Life, and is a great tale of in a way, what everyone could be if we all just had a little bit of a more..." Read more

"...Baudy, brash with a dynamic flare all his own, a born storyteller with gift of gab and an extremely inquisitive nature who also immersed himself in..." Read more

"...that touches on so many areas, and it’s really just a book of stories from Feynman’s life...." Read more

"Very educative and inspiring book." Read more

128 customers mention "Scientist"117 positive11 negative

Customers appreciate Feynman's brilliance as a scientist, describing him as one of the most respected physicists ever, with keenly intelligent remarks on science throughout the book.

"...This is a great example of Richard’s willingness to constantly learn...." Read more

"...as a separate story all of which are rich with adventure, sound scientific thinking and humor...." Read more

"...is also very amusing. The book also gives some insight into Feynmann's scientific mind: take for example the story about how he fixed radios as a..." Read more

"...yet he fit all these together seamlessly into a single, coherent, brilliant person. The contrasts make him all the more likable...." Read more

83 customers mention "Character development"83 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the character development in the book, describing Feynman as a brilliant and interesting person with a sparkling personality.

"...a specific topic, it is purely a book about Richard Feynman... a curious character... indeed...." Read more

"Such an interesting character. This guy! His adventures are very entertaining and there's a lot to be learned from his adventures...." Read more

"...Also the author perpetually uses personification, hyperbola’s, and different kinds of figurative language to appeal to your senses to make a boring..." Read more

"...this autobiography gives me what I think is an accurate description of the whole person...." Read more

49 customers mention "Writing style"40 positive9 negative

Customers appreciate the writing style of the book, describing it as humble and down-to-earth, with one customer noting it is written without a hint of pomposity.

"...Throughout the book, there is this honest, smart, jokingly view on life. Feynman did experiments...." Read more

"...Baudy, brash with a dynamic flare all his own, a born storyteller with gift of gab and an extremely inquisitive nature who also immersed himself in..." Read more

"...The tone of the book is honest, unpretentious and decidedly cheeky. And for the same reasons, it has a lot to teach...." Read more

"...Even at his first day at the big name university, he is so humble and is intimidated by no one...." Read more

24 customers mention "Boredom"0 positive24 negative

Customers find the book boring and disappointing, with some describing it as the worst they've read in years.

"He is very self absorbed. Boring read after first couple chapters" Read more

"...that make it easily readable, I believe this is not Feynman's most interesting book...." Read more

"...I finally read it. Ouch---so utterly boring! He is not the Bill Cosby of the Science world as I had thought...." Read more

"...which is a misnomer as the jokes aren’t practical at all just mean, petty, and abusive. Moreover, the writing is just bad. Bad, bad, bad...." Read more

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Bas Vodde
Excellent short stories of a curious character indeed
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2013
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"Surely you're joking, Mr Feynman" has been on my reading list for a long time, but I never got myself to actually read it. Now I did and I'm glad I did because I found it one of the most funny and insightful books that I've read recently. It's a biography but consisting of short stories of interesting events that happened in the life of Nobel Prize Winner Richard Feynman who seemed to have a special talent of getting himself into interesting situations.

The book consist of 5 parts, which are roughly equal to five important periods in Feynman's life. These are: 1) His early pre-university life, 2) His university life, 3) Involvement in the Manhattan project, 4) Early years as a professor, and 5) Later years as a physicist and professor. Each of these parts consist of small chapters that tell a situation (usually funny or weird) in which he got himself and his usually odd reactions in that situation.

Throughout the book, there is this honest, smart, jokingly view on life. Feynman did experiments. Not just experiments in physics but experiments in life. He would try out things to see if he could do it or to see how people would react. That attitude of experimenting and learning always got him in weird situations and this book is full of those. Example? As a boy trying to imitate Italian (and getting away with it). Removing doors from classmates and so honestly admitting that he did it that nobody believed him (hilarious!). Pick-locking safes. Playing Brazilian instruments. Doing out to Vegas to hand out with gamblers and show women. Proof reading secondary school science books and actually reading them :)

This was one of these books which I found myself laughing out loud quite often. Many of the stories made such an impression that I went off to tell other people about it as they stuck with me (especially the genius experiment with water, a glass and a tip). Everytime when I read more of it, I got more excited about the book and I was actually very sad when I finished the book. It is a book I'll probably re-read (and enjoy as much the second time). It isn't a book about physics or about a specific topic, it is purely a book about Richard Feynman... a curious character... indeed. Five stars, recommended for people who want to read an interesting and fun book.

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Amethyst64
An exceeding unique man
Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2025
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This book is basically a collection of anecdotes by Feynman covering everything from African drumming to philosophy. His life was a constant effort to answer questions, from quantum theory to the performance of rats in a maze. Whatever he was investigating at the time, he put his best to answering the mysteries that caught his attention. He was truly a unique, brilliant and whacky polymath, and a legend in his own life.

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Xiangqin Cui
Great book, good read! Would not recommend for school projects though.
Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2020
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The book is a great piece of literature that demonstrates the lack of necessity for there to be a continuous progression of story in books today. Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman! is an excellent collection of stories from throughout Richard Feynman's Life, and is a great tale of in a way, what everyone could be if we all just had a little bit of a more creative mind. He doesn't have any particular special trait that makes him a great person, it's just that he is curious, and that leads him down the great paths in life that he goes down, from his house as a child fixing radios, to great schools such as MIT and Princeton. I find in particular that his open-mind leads to a lot of friends and opportunities, such as being curious enough that he joined a biology class in grad school while knowing little in the way of biology. The places where he goes is a demonstration of sorts of Richard Feynman's progression as a character. he begins as a child and progresses to MIT, where it's clear he knows more, but his knowledge is not fully developed. After, progressing to MIT, then to Princeton, then to work for the US developing the nuclear bomb, where it is clear he has gained a lifetime of experience and knowledge. I find his collection of stories remarkable, as he tells about his experiments from watching his dreams, to understanding how ants find their paths. I could not recommend this book for school projects, however, as the stories have extremely connection to each other. I would still recommend this book as a read though, as it is fantastic to hear about how he learned to deal with the fact that one of his first lectures was in front of Einstien, and other fascinating tales. His style is interesting, one I have never seen before, and if you have seen any of his lectures, you will know what I am referring to. In his stories, he never gives all of the details away at once, only what is required. As Bill Gates once put it, "you feel like you are discovering alongside him". This style of teaching is evident in his story, as when he talks, he talks about the story slowly so that you don't know what will happen until the very end. Again, he represents as a human what everyone could be, just if only they had a little more creativity, and the mind and passion to pursue those traits to whatever path they lead down. I thoroughly believe everyone should read this book, as it is both international, and entertaining

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22 people found this helpful

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John Michael Strubhart
Very Entertaining!
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2025
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Such an interesting character. This guy! His adventures are very entertaining and there's a lot to be learned from his adventures. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I think you will too if you have any kind of curiosity at all. If you don't, stop using my air.

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Quickly became one of my favourite biographies.
Reviewed in Canada on November 18, 2023
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This book contains unforgettable and hilarious moments during the life of Richard Feynman.

It's a lovely book that takes you through the life of the 20th century physicist, which covers many aspects during Feynman's life.

It's a great book if you want to learn about the condition's of Los Alamos, or life as a professor at Caltech.

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Iñigo
El gran Feynman en estdo puro
Reviewed in Spain on June 3, 2024
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Siempre es un gusto releer a Feynman y sus increíbles historias y esta vez en inglés.

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M. Kroon
Scientist are also regular folks
Reviewed in the Netherlands on May 2, 2017
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Nice anecdotes of a brilliant man. Mr. Feynman strikes me as a man that I would like to have a beer with - he is nothing like the stereotype scientists we see in movies these days.

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Amazon Customer
bought as a xmas gift
Reviewed in Sweden on November 25, 2024
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much appreciated, fast delivery

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Arda Yörük
Feynman'ın anılarından oluşan çok akıcı ve keyifli bir kitap
Reviewed in Turkey on August 31, 2024
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Eğer bilime, şeylerin nasıl olduğuna ve arkasındaki hikayelere meraklıysanız soluksuz okuyabileceğiniz bir kitap. Feynman'ın üslubu her zamanki gibi çok akıcı ve keyifli. Tabii ki fizik, matematik ve analitik düşünmeye olan ilgisini kitabın her yerinde hissediyorsunuz.

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Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character) Paperback – April 17, 1997

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5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent short stories of a curious character indeed

5.0 out of 5 stars An exceeding unique man

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, good read! Would not recommend for school projects though.

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Entertaining!

Top reviews from other countries

5.0 out of 5 stars Quickly became one of my favourite biographies.

5.0 out of 5 stars El gran Feynman en estdo puro

4.0 out of 5 stars Scientist are also regular folks

5.0 out of 5 stars bought as a xmas gift

5.0 out of 5 stars Feynman'ın anılarından oluşan çok akıcı ve keyifli bir kitap

Excellent short stories of a curious character indeed

An exceeding unique man

Great book, good read! Would not recommend for school projects though.

Very Entertaining!

Quickly became one of my favourite biographies.

El gran Feynman en estdo puro

Scientist are also regular folks

bought as a xmas gift

Feynman'ın anılarından oluşan çok akıcı ve keyifli bir kitap