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5.5 x 8.25” B: 7/16” BASIC PB BLACK +PMS 108 +PMS 1655 +PMS 234 FINISH: Gritty Matte six easy pieces “The most original mind of his generation.” —Freeman Dyson 6 RichaRd p. Feynman RichaRd p. Feynman six easy pieces A Member of the Perseus Books Group www.basicbooks.com SCIENCE I t was Richard Feynman’s outrageous and scintillating method of teaching that earned him legendary status among students and professors of physics. From 1961 to 1963, Feynman delivered a series of lectures at the California Institute of Technology that revolutionized the teaching of physics around the world. Six Easy Pieces, taken from these famous Lectures on Physics, represent the most accessible material from the series. In these classic lessons, Feynman introduces the general reader to the following topics: atoms, basic physics, energy, gravitation, quantum mechanics, and the relationship of physics to other topics. With his dazzling and inimitable wit, Feynman presents each discussion with a minimum of jargon. Filled with wonderful examples and clever illustrations, Six Easy Pieces is the ideal introduction to the fundamentals of physics by one of the most admired and accessible physicists of modern times. “The essence of physics and Feynman. No jargon, just ideas, excitement, and the straight dope. And real answers, like ‘we don’t know.’ ” —sTephen WolFram The late RichaRd P. Feynman (1918–1988) was Richard Chace Tolman Professor of Theoretical Physics at the California Institute of Technology. He was awarded the 1965 Nobel Prize for his work on the development of quantum field theory. He was also one of the most famous and beloved figures of the twentieth century, both in physics and in the public arena. www.BasicFeynman.com Cover photograph courtesy of California Institute of Technology ISBN 978-0-465-02527-5 9 7 8 0 4 6 5 0 2 5 2 7 5 5 1 3 9 9 E s s E n t i a l s o f P h y s i c s E x P l a i n E d b y i t s M o s t b r i l l i a n t t E a c h E r $13.99 US / $16.50 CAN SIX EASY PIECES 0465025275-Feynman_Layout 1 1/18/11 2:00 PM Page i A l s o b y Richa r d P. Fey nm an The Character of Physical Law Elementary Particles and the Laws of Physics: The 1986 Dirac Memorial Lectures (with Steven Weinberg) Feynman Lectures on Computation (edited by Anthony J. G. Hey and Robin Allen) Feynman Lectures on Gravitation (with Fernando B. Morinigo and William G. Wagner; edited by Brian Hatfield) The Feynman Lectures on Physics (with Robert B. Leighton and Matthew Sands) The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist Photon-Hadron Interactions Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track: The Letters of Richard P. Feynman The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter Quantum Mechanics and Path Integrals (with A. R. Hibbs) Six Not-So-Easy Pieces: Einstein’s Relativity, Symmetry, and Space Time Statistical Mechanics: A Set of Lectures Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! Adventures of a Curious Character (with Ralph Leighton) The Theory of Fundamental Processes What Do You Care What Other People Think? Further Adventures of a Curious Character (with Ralph Leighton) 0465025275-Feynman_Layout 1 1/18/11 2:00 PM Page ii SIX EASY PIECES Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher R I C H A R D P. F E Y N M A N with Robert B. Leighton and Matthew Sands Introduction by Paul Davies A Member of the Perseus Books Group New York 0465025275-Feynman_Layout 1 1/18/11 2:00 PM Page iii Copyright © 1963, 1989, 1995, 2011 by the California Institute of Technology Published by Basic Books, A Member of the Perseus Books Group All text and cover photographs are courtesy of the Archives, California Institute of Technology. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address Basic Books, 387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016-8810. Books published by Basic Books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the United States by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, or call (800) 810-4145, ext. 5000, or e-mail