Richard Feynman Lecture -- "Los Alamos From Below"

[@rogerkeeling1485]

In 1975, I was attending UCSB but, sadly, at the time I'd never heard of Richard Feynman. I was blandly unaware of his lecture. But my incredible roommate -- the late William Armbruster -- knew who he was. And William was most certainly attending that lecture, because he and a buddy were the guys who made THIS recording! William owned a high-end reel-to-reel ReVox, and was the guy who normally recorded the Santa Barbara Symphony's performances. Periodically they also recorded lecturers in UCSB's enormous Campbell Hall on behalf of the Lectures Program. As usual, he and his friend had gone early, hung the microphone(s), and then camped out in a control booth with the ReVox running. The next day he mentioned it to me, asked if I'd gone, and was shocked when I admitted I knew nothing of it. Immediately he pulled out the ReVox and new recording -- THIS recording -- and played it to me. I was transfixed, and consequently deeply regretful about having missed seeing it live. (As a student I could have attended for free, of course). A day or so later, William handed the tape over to the Lectures program people, and I've often wondered in the intervening years what happened to it (and, actually, to ALL the recordings they made of the exceptional people who came to lecture). Apparently they've been properly archived by the UCSB library, and finally somebody ("The Quadmire") has taken time to bring the long version to the world via KZbin. So: thank you, The Quadmire, much appreciated!

[@parrogakaparadise9477]

Amazing story.

[@ARBB1]

Awesome

[@andysPARK]

I'm so glad you got to hear it again.

[@Prototheria]

Comments like yours are what make KZbin worth all the nonsense. It's remarkable that, after such a long time, how you and this recording were reunited, presumably, by chance. I've seen other similar encounters on here- like an old friend of an obscure blues artist commenting on a video of said blues artist someone else uploaded, and then the artist replying to that long-lost friend. A few years ago I had a personal encounter with a much younger me spotted in the audience of a concert I went to back in the mid 90's at a small club in Vermont. I wonder if you happen to know Robery Mudry; he was at the lecture and is another commenter on this video. What amazingly intricate, interwoven paths we lead.

[@jovanjanjic9029]

I'm so grateful that they made this golden recording. It means so much to me.

[@erichodge567]

This is a priceless historical document. Can you imagine having Isaac Newton on tape going, "Now when I first went up to Cambridge..."

[@michaelstone7546]

Try Bertrand Russell 's Autobiography, and Newton's history: inventing and constructing toys at Cambridge during the plague

[@matthewnewton8812]

It’s unreal.

[@jonnekallu1627]

Or maybe "I never liked apples.."

[@bop1886]

Ah not really the same but ok

[@PronatorTendon]

@@bop1886 True, Feynman was an order of magnitude more rational than Newton, who fallaciously invoked his 'god of the gaps' when he encountered the limitations of his observational capacity

[@metacob]

I've been watching youtube videos all day at 1.5x speed, but I had to go back to 1.0x for this one. Despite the casual tone, Mr. Feynman doesn't speak a single unnecessary word and any pause he makes is just enough to let the meaning sink in.

[@canadiangemstones7636]

What an absolute gift to humanity was Richard Feynman. Beyond thrilled that his words were recorded!

[@jfan4reva]

I first heard of Richard Feynman on the program Nova ('The Last Journey of a Genius') after his death. He was just a delight to listen to, regardless of what he was talking about. He also had my Dad's penchant for popping overinflated egos. Feynman never considered himself a genius. He only admitted to being smarter than average when he was nearing his death, and then only grudgingly. He seemed like such a great guy to hang out with. He always looked (on video) like he had this really funny story that he wanted to tell to you. Highly recommend his autobiographies "Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman" (growing up and college) and "What Do You Care What People Think" (Los Alamos.)

[@lacyhart2043]

He is the great teacher

[@liamconroy1656]

That valve story is honestly one of the funniest stories I've heard in a long time. Really great guy, that part was actually a really good example of humility from a man like him turning into such a turn of events.

[@RyFi1978]

Yup, it was great.

[@morpheus6749]

Every piece of recording of Feynman in pure gold.

[@PRR5406]

What I get from listening to Feynman is his clarity of thought. There is no trash in his speech, he has edited out everything not pertaining to a specific objective. What a fun person to listen to. Imagine being his friend? What an elite group of people!

[@eugenemiya4935]

The editing was done by Ralph Leighton. Feynman does not speak like the printed text. A speaker version reading the text (audio book) exists, but it's dull and boring.

[@Orgakoyd]

@@eugenemiya4935 Can I ask what you mean by “does not speak like the printed text”? What text?

[@eugenemiya4935]

@@Orgakoyd Feynman did not do the editing. Ralph Leighton did the editing. Feynman hated writing and editing. You can read an example of Feynman's "bad" English in Chris Sykes' biography of Feynman No Ordinary Genius. There, a writer (English) commented that Feynman could not construct a sentence. The audio recording early on pointed out Feynman had not reached any of the funny bits. That text was not not included as were other bits which are on the audio recording. This writer complained (likely not a physicist), asking the question who is this guy? Others complained Feynman's speaking style was like a New York cabbie. The English (people), and majors, didn't care for his speaking "style".

[@Chibob55]

All the while he worked at Los Alamos he had to watch his young bride suffer and eventually wilt away at age 25. I have heard of his love letters to her. A poet. A genius. And also an wonderful sense of story-telling humour..

[@allenclark4235]

Andrew Huberman read one of the letters on his pod cast about grief. It is the most beautiful expression of love I have ever heard. Having heard him speak and the way his mind works made it that much more beautiful. I've revisited it many times.

[@thisnicklldo]

And the thing is, she was so close to being cured. My father had TB, at the same time - the progress of his was slower (else I wouldn't be here). At the end of the 40's/ right at the start of the 50's he was given streptomycin, which cured it, though by then he had lost one whole lung and one lobe of another. If she could have hung on for another 5 years, the cure was round the corner. True of so many of course, TB was a terrible scourge, thank god for antibiotics.

[@uscdave1124]

Everybody talks about how amazing Carl Sagan was as a science communicator but part of me thinks Richard Feynman was even better. I could listen to him talk all day.

[@BladeRunner-td8be]

Feynman was one of the most intelligent people to have ever lived and he never bragged about that fact, however if you listened to him or talked with him it was instantly obvious to you and therefore he didn't "need" to brag about it. So far I have probably listened to at least 20 hrs. of him speaking about various subjects on KZbin. I cannot get enough of this incredible human. RIP

[@lucilla888]

i agree

[@sonus289]

man ,couldn't agree more. He must have drove his peers nuts

[@kerzytibok3211]

I always find it funny how the smartest people in the world like Feynman and Einstein thought they were "average" intelligence but the dumbest and most ignorant people like Commie Trump always feel a need to brag about how smart they think they are --- such a weird paradox in human behavior

[@carlossaraiva8213]

It seems that Feynman was very aware of how intelligent he was but his attitude was to laugh about it and even create a lot of self-deprecating humour about it. Strange as this might sound but dometimes being very clever csn make your life difficult or it can make your like look absurd and you find yourself in a lot of absurd situations, like how sometimes you are the only sane man in the room. And that is a great source of material gor humour. I think Feynman mansged to find the funny side of even the absurt of being often the smartest man in the room.

[@billwindsor4224]

@BladeRunner-td8be Great comment, both honoring Feynman’s brilliance and his consistent effort to connect with common students. Like this lecture here, and his playing the bongo drums with the band at the CalTech coffee shop on Friday nights. Thank you sir.

[@TheMushroomOfficial]

This is not a lecture…this is a standup special 😂 Great material. Great guy.

[@Amsterdampardoc1]

I swear if all teachers were like this, children would be so interested in learning. And realise that it is actually fun.

[@volkerkalhoefer3973]

Feynman had that gift😄 there's a german guy called Gassner, who has it as well, lots of stuff on KZbin👍( in German, I'm afraid😟 . . . well I ain't 😎 )

[@docskin]

I have such fond memories of reading Surely You’re Joking Mr Feynman when I was in school. Hearing essentially the same book narrated by the man himself is beyond fantastic. We need more Feynmans.

[@OverlandOne]

We have them but now they have to lie and claim they believe in the farce of global warming to receive any funding or get hired by a "prestigious" university, so all of the ones with integrity just say: "No thanks", and we never hear about them once they have been suppressed.

[@treesandgeeking]

@@OverlandOne 🙄

[@OverlandOne]

@@AmusingYeti Wow, I almost laughed at your ignorance. The fact that the only retort you could summon was a sad attempt to insult me must be really embarrassing for you. Maybe when you grow up you will understand the subject matter a lot better? Perhaps you might take a remedial science class? Then you might learn why trying to predict anything with a 200 year sample of weather conditions out of the 4.2 billion years the earth has been around is beyond a joke and not science at all. It is statistically a ZERO sample size and any "model" based on this is total crap.

[@thetrickster9885]

We used to have them too but they got rid of that book because in that book feynman calls some women bitches (as a joke ofc) but those libtards removed it because they thought it may have to do something with misogyny. I am glad that I purchased 4 books for me and my brother's before they got out

[@Ryan-ce1oc]

@@OverlandOne If global warming isn't real then where is the heat coming from. It's not coming from the sun because solar activity decreased over the last century. The atmosphere is trapping the heat, and the only thing that has increased in the atmosphere is CO2 produced by humans. See Venus for details on the effects of CO2 in the atmosphere.

[@testboga5991]

This guy is simply next level. He's one of the most impressive and fascinating people to ever live, I think.

[@Anonymous-by5jp]

Indeed, he was a real gem

[@kenw8875]

Brilliant storyteller and comedic genius, who just happens to be a Physicist and major force on the Los Alamos project. God I love the way he can cleanly explain such complicated eng/science topics.

[@imeprezime1285]

They just needed one comedian/clown there. It happened to be Feynman. Not a major force, he wasn't atomic physicist at all.

[@ericemmons7429]

This is my favorite video on KZbin. I don't know how many times I've listened to it on long car rides.

[@inthefade]

I just finished reading "Surely you Must be Joking, Mr. Feynman", which has this talk adapted as a chapter. I already miss reading it, so I've been listening to his lectures again. What a wonderful man!

[@jamesbentonticer4706]

@@inthefade a great book!

[@FeistyJackball]

Likewise brother

[@pereraddison932]

@@FeistyJackball Aend, an X stenographic reveal under Oppy, with the crossed legs of his directors chair... "nothing to see here, folks. Move along, move along"

[@xyzct]

Eric, I'm sure I've listened to it 10 times. I'm listening again right now.

[@Cre8tvMG]

Not only was he a physics genius, his comedic timing is perfect.

[@capoeirnesto]

RIGHT?

[@wyskass861]

He might be the one guy I'd choose to have a drink and conversation with if given a choice to go back in time for such an opportunity.

[@dpsamu2000]

@@Bebtelovimab Consider this. He was constantly pushing the limits of security, breaking into safes, and spreading it around at mass meetings that security was flawed. The Russian spy attached himself to Feynman, and who knows what Feynman told him about how to circumvent security. Feynman says he was not a top man in The Manhattan Project but he may have innocently been the top man in the Russian nuclear program.

[@kerzytibok3211]

Feynman reminds me of lot of Neil deGrasse Tyson in personality --- except that Feynman could actually do cutting edge physics research and Neil can't

[@jgunther3398]

@@kerzytibok3211 neil was on some game show on tv for charity and honestly he was so dumb you ended up wondering how he could write his name. but if they'd tried to use feynman as a science popularizer it would have been like funny jokes and when it's time for the science it's incomprehensible 🤣

[@mistermac56]

I became familiar with Dr. Feynman as a member of the presidential commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster and his demonstration of O-Ring material. like that used in the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster segments and showed that the O-Rings do not return to their shape in cold conditions. Absolutely brilliant demonstration that anyone could understand. I have, over the years, watched videos and listen to his lectures and read his books. A brilliant scientist and he had a fantastic sense of humor and an excellent lecturer.

[@liquidbraino]

I've listened to this probably over 100 times and it never gets old. I sometimes put this on as I'm going to sleep (which I'm about to do again right now).

[@dakiblabla]

Nuclear bomb lullaby.

[@liquidbraino]

​@@dakiblablaLulla-Bye (Japan).

[@farmergiles1065]

A way to nuke wakefulness when it's critical to get your rest? Or enrichment of slumber to fuel your day? When you need more than a half-life.

[@jashayou]

I was fortunate enough in 1970 and 71 to study undergrad physics from textbooks derived from Feynman lectures. I didn't understand until today who he was and the significance of that. What an amazing man! Thanks for posting this talk!

[@dakiblabla]

This talk is irrelevant to who he was.

[@jashayou]

@@dakiblabla How so? What are you thinking?

[@dakiblabla]

@@jashayou Feynman was one of the greatest physicists of the 20th century, and overall. The Los Alamos episode was irrelevant in his life, except that he met other great physicists, like Bethe, and Fermi and Bohr. He was a grad student. His main work happened later. Look at what he got the Nobel prize for. You cannot really conclude from this video why he was so great.

[@jashayou]

@@dakiblabla Thanks.

[@dakiblabla]

@@jashayou Feynman's autobiographies "Surely you're joking Mr Feynman" and "What do you care what other people think" are a hoot. And if you ever happen to be in Pasadena, they preserved his office in Caltech. And if you still remember some physics, his books "Six easy pieces" and "Six not so easy pieces" are great too.

[@stasiekpiekarski]

Sense of humor is the best measure of someone's intelligence! Thanks for sharing the lecture!

[@BoB-th8wm]

0:00 intro 1:52 Richard Feynman 3:17 Richard Feynman at Princeton 5:48 Richard Feynman at Princeton meets great men ( Richard learns that great men remember and argue fast) 7:26 Group told to start in New Mexico to make the Bomb 9:21 Los Alimos before it was ready 10:30 Richard Feynman: Train Paranoia 11:20 Richard Feynman: Indian Caves 12:13 Richard Feynman: Know your place 13:54 Richard Feynman: Finds luck, pushing Bethe 14:50 Richard Feynman: Playing with numbers. Hans Bethe, teaches Little Richard math 17:00 Richard Feynman: Dormitories and makeup, plus the Town counsel 22:25 Richard Feynman: Censorship 30:48 Richard Feynman: Knowing the System 32:34 Richard Feynman: Cracks the Cab safes 34:09 Richard Feynman: Mr Teller's Drawer 35:00 Richard Feynman: Disappointing the audience. 35:10 Richard Feynman: The safety of Oak ridge. Separating Isotopes of Uranium 238 and 236, to the latter 235, (the boom one.) with Uranium nitrate purified 37:23 Richard Feynman: The safety of Oak ridge. Neutrons. 38:00 Scientific Groups & Military Priority's 39:15 Richard Feynman: walking the plant, it's bad. 40:35 Little Richard Says : Los Alimos cannot accept the responsibility for the oak ridge plant. 43:20 Richard Feynman: Valves & Windows. 46:43 Richard Feynman: Los Alimos Calculation machine repairs 49:30 Richard Feynman: Women helped but they needed breaks. 50:18 Richard Feynman: Building new machines, and fixing bent items. 51:35 The Computer disease 53:00 Special engineer detachments, punching holes 56:00 Machine mess, Colour card number mistakes. 58:14 The People Richard Feynman met. Fermi 59:20 Feynman meets John, Von Neumann; "You don't have to be responsible for the world that you're in" 1:00:10 Feynman meets Niels Bohr and his son 1:01:45 Feynman Challenges Bohr 1:02:44 The Test explosion. Feynman looks through a Truck windshield (blocks violet light) 1:05:32 William Laurence. What's That! 1:05:50 Plutonium. 1:07:16 After Explosion. Drums and Depression. Q&A 1:09:08 Feynman cracks safes 1:14:07 Feynman cracks safes using Psychology EDIT; correcting mistakes; sorry, Bethe.

[@BartAlder]

Excellent job, andy andy. This should be a pinned comment.

[@BoB-th8wm]

@@BartAlder Thank you, for your kind words.

[@chillphil967]

awesome. thanks

[@lawrencenara4181]

Great Job!

[@mikestevens8012]

Bravo , this is grande

[@mhillvo]

I've read one of the books about him, awhile back, so I'm familiar with his background from those. To hear him speak about the project, the math, the people involved is a fascinating look into the mind of a brilliant person being honest and, frankly, himself, when in the company of other men of his caliber, yet singled out by the top minds, to be frank and he didn't realize who, as far as notoriety, he gave it to them straight, no chaser, no pretense, but with so much mischief along the way, it delights to hear him deliver, even, one liners. I often try to watch his videos on YT because he helps you to think...as he did his own children, I believe, and figure things out using science principles and your logic. One frozen rubber ring and a glass of ice water is what he requested for the Challenger commission. Brilliant minds are well worth listening to.

[@timhays332]

His books are just as insightful and funny. He was a prof my dad when he was getting his Ph.D. I'd never heard his voice - this is priceless. Love it!

[@demarek]

This entire audio clip is amazing. I listened to it in one sitting.

[@PlateletRichGel]

It's an easy listen

[@geosutube]

demarek I have never heard it before, although I love Feynman’s books, beginning with Surely You’re Joking, Mr Feynman. I’m saving this for listening again very soon, since some of the audio is a big scratchy.

[@MatthewDoyle-w9f]

This is such a service to humanity like all Richard's talks. Thanks to all involved and thank you Richard.

[@robertdean6084]

This is PURE gold! I laughed harder listening to this than I have listening to any stand up comedian in my life. I'm a Manhattan Project history buff anyway, so listening to inside history is fascinating for in the first place. But Feynman's take on it? Holy O' Cow! The BEST! Thank you for posting this. Wish I had found it years ago!

[@uscdave1124]

The best part is right at the beginning when he goes "what the hell, it's not even funny yet. I've got way more jokes"

[@stevenrun34]

Feynman is my favorite scientist, easily. Love listening to recordings of his lectures and interviews. What an interesting guy

[@Eugwel]

I was born in 1961 and now often feel as if I missed so much. Yet because of this I stand with my eyes forward and my shoulders back with great confidence for my grandchildren.

[@jasonmedina7058]

"It isn't funny yet, I've got lots of better things" he's a brilliant theoretical physicist and a wonderful speaker with an intelligent comedic flare. A true rare breed of human.

[@lawrencetate145]

He's as funny naturally as most stand-up comedians.

[@Amsterdampardoc1]

He’s funnier lol

[@lmundiclan]

This was a fantastic trip to see the world from another point of view in 2023. Thanks Grandpa!

[@peterparsons7141]

The most awe inspiring thing for me is to hear brilliant people speak, and they are so honest an straightforward, and human. I’ve been very fortunate to have worked with some really bright people, since starting in information processing in 1978. There is something unique and special, and when you meet them you know it. This man is one of those people.

[@toferj7441]

I was born and raised in Los Alamos in 1975. I love stories about "the city on the hill" as it was called when it was shrouded in mystery. Love the history of my hometown. 😊

[@Webberjo]

His blueprint story is legendary.

[@johnmaynard9722]

It is called faking it until you find out what you need to know!! It is a good skill to have until it doesn't work!! :)

[@dpsamu2000]

After watching this in 2019 I sought out more. I found evidence that I had unknowingly met him around 1985, and he played a trick on me that lasted 35 years before I solved it. Feynman loved puzzles, and playing intellectual tricks on people. The Caltech campus has a golf course which my dad's house in Monterey Park over looks. When I lived in Los Angeles in 1985 I was a delivery man. While delivering on the streets of LA I would see this van with Feynman diagrams as graffiti all over it. I didn't know what Feynman diagrams were or who Richard Feynman was. I just thought it was just something a collage student did to his van. You know how students will write graffiti with scientific formulas like E=MC2. I was on a delivery on my motorcycle one day, and pulled up behind this van. There was this shabby looking dude there who motioned that he wanted to talk to me. Thought he was a bum looking to bum a cigarette. That was a thing with bums in LA at the time. But if you gave one a cigarette 6 more show up bumming more. I waved him away pointing to the place I was delivering to. He nodded, and withdrew. When I came out he was still there. I mounted my bike but he was upon me before I got away. He asked me if I knew what the diagrams were. I thought it was just an opening gambit that would eventually lead to him bumming a cigarette. I told him I didn't know but thought they were just graffiti like some collage kids do like E=MC2, and that it probably belonged to a student from Caltech which was just 8 blocks up the road within sight from there. He asked if I knew what they mean. I said I don't know. Probably something nuclear but I don't know. He said OK, and didn't ask for a cigarette. A little surprised he didn't but I started up my bike, and rode away. 35 years later I'm looking on the Internet for information about Richard Feynman, and find a picture of him, and the van. It all came back to me. I figure he did that a lot. Hanging around his van asking passers by if they knew what the Feynman diagrams are. I guess kind of a measure of how much the general public knew about them. I may have surprised him that even though I didn't know what they meant I was able to figure out the van belonged to somebody from Caltech. I think he would have liked the fact that 35 years later somebody he played that trick on figured it out.

[@BluesBoy-ij2rb]

It's a Shame you didn't let your guard down and engaged in a nice conversation with him , who's knows what kind of story you could have told all these years later ???.........but at least you met him , more than most can say !!!!.................................. ERIk

[@dpsamu2000]

@@BluesBoy-ij2rb It was the hand I was dealt. If I had known then who he was like I know now he probably wouldn't have wanted to talk to me. Just another fanboy. At least this video sent me on a quest to watch his other videos, lectures, and reminded me of the van encounter. From his Auckland lecture on QED I believe I got a grasp of it. Had to watch some parts a couple of times to understand it. I think that's the best one for it. I recommend it. even though it's six 1 hour lectures. Sounds daunting, and a couple times I wanted to say "Driver, I was with you up to there but you made a turn, and I don't know where we are, and I don't even understand the language. ". But I watched again, skipping over what I understood 'til my understanding faltered, and zeroed in on the difficulty was "probability amplitudes". Now I can describe QED applied to the 2 slit experiment in 5 sentences, and how the same rules apply to rainbows on soap bubbles, lenses, and diffraction gratings. Even how they apply to the target plates I machined for the Large Hadron Collider. Which reminds me of an interesting coincidence about the encounter I had with him, and the van. When he asked if I knew what the Feynman diagrams were my words were "...probably something nuclear...". The arrows in Feynman diagrams are probability amplitudes, and the target plates are the heart of the largest, most powerful, most expensive machine ever built which studies nuclear physics. Even solved a problem in the manufacture of the plates that the physicists called the company I worked for to tell them to thank me because I, in effect, increased the power of the LHC 10 times. It was the second time in the 75 year history of the company a customer called to thank the machinist. The other call was also to thank me for work I did on a pump base for a nuclear reactor.

[@jeremyzenkar8996]

When I listen to Feynman I hear my advisor in college. That same NYC area accent. It makes me so happy. Feynman was brilliant in virtually every aspect of his life. What a lecture! You can hear the passion in his voice.

[@JeremyBrun]

This video started autoplaying on me, I was wondering what the hell it was but could not get to my computer to change the video. Best lecture I listened to in a very long time.

[@USNTD21965]

By far, one of the most interesting (and humorous) lectures I've heard to date.

[@dpsamu2000]

Even though you can't see him you can hear the smile on his face, and the laughter in his throat.

[@jimijack100]

My favourite parts are the blueprints and safe cracking. What a wonderful story teller.

[@thomas6502]

Feynman and Woz have been two of my biggest inspirations--just passing along gratitude. Really enjoyed this talk all these years later. Thanks for the share, great listen!

[@ChristopherHill-pd5ov]

Rare that a genius has so much charm and is just so funny. I was in a car going to be student at the rca in London. A beautiful day in February 1988. When i heard of his passing. He was a force of nature! A true original human being.

[@michaelrowave]

This is the best piece on KZbin I have encountered to date. Must watch humanity,

[@martinnermut2582]

R. Feynman wrote a book from his life. I won this book translated to czech in a school competition and it has influenced my life :)

[@handyandy6488]

The header says Comments 911 - somehow poignant. This IS priceless. I was always told as a kid that Feynman was so special - even in England in the '70s. This is the perfect counterpoint to the Oppenheimer movie and all that stuff. This makes it SO real ans all the more meaningful. Thank You.

[@jimlaguardia8185]

Feynman is one of my favorite persons, just wonderful across the board. He reminds me of the wonderful persons from NYC who I knew in the 50s, smart, funny, witty, insightful, etc. Further evidence that US was much better back then.

[@vincentconti3633]

Do you know of his story "Tuva or bust"? check it out. You'll be glad you did!

[@bipmix]

the gift of discovering of Feynman and the wonder of finding things out, have been a gift to humanity. Roger Keelings note below is also another piece of the puzzle that make each individual moment of discovery magical. He gave everybody a sense of wonder that as long as you keep learning and looking, you find things out.

[@benniesanrjs]

This lecture is always my go too when I’m troubled in life I’ve listened to this countless numerous times it puts me at peace

[@BartAlder]

It was reading Feynman that got me into physics and mathematics. That was 28 years ago. Such a pleasure having this audio to listen to. Thanks uploader.

[@conorm2524]

I'm 37. Do you think it's too late to pursue a physics education? The periphery of it fascinates me but I realistically wonder if I have enough brain power to absorb the real details and computations. My cranium is pretty thick, takes longer than most peoples' to get information through there and register!!

[@Ryan-we9in]

Conor M It’s never too late. It’s hard to know in the beginning how far you’ll go in the subject but even a few years of study, if you really enjoy it, will be richly rewarding.

[@wiseacredave]

@@conorm2524 If you're really interested in Physics, you can do it. A physics degree will be invaluable in so many life adventures because it changes the way you think and really teaches you how to solve problems---and not just scientific problems. At age 62, my physics degree has been invaluable. In fact, this very day I'm working on a rather elementary (I think) physics problem that, based on my research, has never been studied before. Good luck with your studies!

[@BartAlder]

@@conorm2524 As others have said, no it is not too late. Being slow to get things can also be an advantage, you know when you've understood a thing beyond the superficial. This was said of Bohr, that he was slow to understand a thing but once understood he was a master of it. So play to this and it could actually be an advantage.

[@PhysicsNative]

Feynman beats Oppenheimer ANY day on story telling and life story. What a humor and intellect. He influenced me as a teen to study physics and eventually get a PhD. The world lost out when he passed in 1988, from aggressive cancer likely from his time on the MP.

[@jgunther3398]

i read "surely you're joking..." about the time it came out. it's captivating and hilarious. some physicists seem to think now that he's a showman who refuses to be wrong. people who had interactions with him maybe. the thing i can't figure out is a kid from the boroughs from that time who didn't end up a gangster...

[@benniesanrjs]

I’ve listened to this speech probably over a 1000 times it’s my go to when i need it

[@tf5920]

Me too. I've listened about 5 times in the last 5 years. So about once a year on average. Amazing talk

[@ashish19]

A pure gem of a talk. An amazing storyteller!

[@schelsullivan]

This is better than many stand up comics.

[@bharatendu97]

The sounds he makes to describe different situations .. like he is living those moments now.. sounds very humerus...and makes him a great story teller too...

[@moegreen3870]

yes i noticed that too! talk about eidetic memory!!! WOW!!!!!!!! certainly NOT the man who knew too little lmao xd

[@KomradZX1989]

This was an absolute pleasure to listen to. Wouldn’t you love to be able to hear what Feynman would say these days 🤔

[@LocalHistorian]

LOVE this! He's truly fascinating AND fun to listen to...

[@guyneault2646]

What an amazing, enjoyable, character, I'm sorry that I never heard of him. But I will certainly research this national treasure. What amazing audio on this video.

[@1skedaddle]

So glad I found your copy so I could hear the last ten minutes. Thanks.

[@geosutube]

1skedaddle Yes, the last ten minutes are superb. The entire recording pulled me out of a deep emotional slump, but the last ten were the cherry on the top.

[@geosutube]

I loved his story about his mathematician friend who was so good with arithmetic, deriving the cube roots in his head.

[@taulant5345]

He was talking about Hans Bethe who was a nuclear physicist. If you want a chuckle google "alpher bethe gamow".

[@gregparrott]

Oh, the irony...Perhaps the best hour long comedy I've ever heard. But the 'comedian' is a brilliant theoretical physicist,and he merely recalled personal experiences. Even to have been one of the censors, let alone a co-worker in his presence, would have been the greatest privilege

[@martinhow121]

Finally a lecture by Richard Feynman I can understand. As a mere chemist he was always baffling when on subject.

[@thomthumbe]

Wow! Well worth the effort to listen to this one. Great words from a great man. Intelligent insight and information + Humor = students who learn basic principles of wisdom...not just memorized terms and lists of facts. Rare teachers like Mr. Feynman could teach anyone the basics of nuclear theory. He had that gift.

[@timburr4453]

i can listen to him all day. A brilliant genius...who couldve moonlighted as a standup comedian if he wanted

[@joeblough4605]

I can't do math in public (or in private), but I've always been fascinated with physics and physicists. I've read about many things Feynman and others did and discovered. I assumed Feynman was probably just another socially boring genius somewhere way out there on the spectrum but i had never heard him speak before. It's incredible listening to him work a room, funny, personable, self effacing, wow - he's like Mister Entertainment. Bet it was a good time having a beer with him.

[@c016smith52]

That was exceptional, and truly enjoyable. What a great presentation, through and through. I haven't seen Oppenheimer (2023) yet, but somehow I didn't know anything about Feynman's involvement in the Manhattan Project, nor hardly anything about him really. I'm ashamed, because after just watching 2-3 videos of him, I can't believe what I've been missing out on. He is so witty and smart and curious and funny! Seriously, I just sat on patio and enjoyed the breeze and this audio for an hour straight, and truly smiled throughout and laughed out loud multiple times. I feel like someone that _just_ discovered The Beatles or something, and are like "Wow, these guys are pretty goood" haha, 30 years too late. :)

[@DeltaAssaultGaming]

It’s scary how much Jack Quaid looks like him in the movie.

[@moegreen3870]

something that shocked me greatly is the IMAX version of the movie is ending its run around August 9th, 2023?? is that correct?? i found that truly shocking... the movie's budget was $100 meelion dollars!! and the IMAX version of it runs from July 20th to August 9th... which is only a 21 day run! is that only at my local IMAX and the others are running longer? or all across the nation one is given only 21 days to see it in that awesome format before it is yanked away for years? (i have yet to find a theatre that shows old IMAX releases, but there is a rumor of just such a theatre in Canada many thousands of miles away from me! a theatre that apparently will re-run old IMAX releases sometimes)... i also missed Blade Runner 2049 on IMAX... maybe will make a trip to Canada someday :p was really wanting to see the movie to see what part Feynman played in it

[@risk5riskmks93]

@@moegreen3870The Chinese theater on Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood, where I saw Oppenheimer, is still showing it in 70mm IMAX today, September 2. I didn’t realize, when I saw it, which character was Feynman. I guess he’s shown playing the bongos, and also, I believe, watching the Trinity event from within the car.

[@eideticex]

Horrifying for a man like Feynman to say "it's useless to build anything". As fascinating as this lecture was, that is going to ring with me for a long time.

[@shirleyhall3407]

I have found this video after seeing the film “Oppenheimer” and wanting to know more about what had happened at Los Alamos. Richard Feynman’s presentation is informative and fun. He was a wonderful raconteur and so entertaining.

[@matthayward7889]

Same here!

[@NATIK001]

Feynman is legendary, not just for being a great physicist, but also for having a special ability to communicate eloquently, precisely and with great humor. As a physics student I would ravenously consume everything I could find of his, and I strongly recommend looking up Feynman's talks about things beyond the Los Alamos situation and the Manhattan Project as well, it's all worth reading, listening to or watching.

[@nesagljivic]

By far the best testimony how the things were in Los Alamos during the WW2.

[@ITILII]

Richard Feynman, greatest physicist of the 20th century. Not just a man, with order or magnitude brilliance....but such a great sense of humor and wit.

[@vincentconti3633]

When he was dying he had this dream of going to Tuva! Funny story ..check it out!

[@stevekru6518]

Einstein was 20th Century too but of a previous generation .

[@tarantala111]

Wow - what a story teller!

[@wajahatsherwani]

The problem with playing tricks on highly intelligent people is that the time it takes for them to realise what exactly has happened from the moment they see something wrong is too short to provide any pleasure.

[@meesalikeu]

Wajahat Khan that was thee insight of the whole talk

[@taragragg400]

Brazil

[@FumbleFinger]

[34:25]

[@Loagun]

You don't say....

[@hififlipper]

It was Edward Teller, who wasn´t famous to be the fastest speaker at all. His parents thought that he was retarded for a long time. Must have provided Mr. Teller with a lot of pleasure to see other people, who were trying to trick or treat him, recognize only much later that he had already had figured it all out before he had started to speak in the first place.

[@rowenab.747]

Feynman was such a great comedian! Thank you for this!

[@moralpha500]

I read lots of science books and have a math background so I've long-known of Feynman's unique scientific talent and contributions. I have also long-known of his charisma. But in every video I watched, I felt his charisma was overrated. Now that I've heard this piece I grasp Feynman's wonderful personality and why he was such a popular teacher and public personality. Great piece of history by a great, unique, colorful man.

[@philipgiacalone5605]

This is a fantastic recording. I love Feynman and this really captures the brilliance, humor and incredible personality of the man.

[@GimmeSum]

I could spend my whole life happy just listening to him talk Amazing person

[@MissBettieS]

Me too. He actually gets me high.

[@TheCaptain14]

I’ve listened to this video more times than I can count; so informative and entertaining.

[@jesmarina]

Simply brilliant. Thank you for this. If you haven't read the ultimate book on the subject, read "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" by Richard Rhodes. Read it 8 or 9 years ago and it is still one of the best books I've ever read.

[@AndrewBlacker-wr2ve]

Very fun presentation. Thumbs up at minimum but far more informative. Feynman talks like a bookie or the operator of a bodega. So he's highly relatable.

[@4theloveofgolf6559]

What an original guy. I don't understand much of the physics and math and what not. But a good story teller makes me think I can.

[@SSJ0016]

This is my favorite video on KZbin

[@OverlandOne]

Awesome. What a true genius he was. I read many of his books and I highly recommend them.

[@johntucker5994]

I just came across this. What a treat! This guy was a character (and brilliant)...🙂

[@free2trudge]

Great recording for some age appropriate homeschooling change-up! Something about this man just still makes science seem cool in a way few others have ever been able to. Thanks so much!

[@N1gel]

Must have been great to sit in that audience. Greater to work with him.

[@Qwerty123zzuy]

Man...i can't believe how awesome this video was.

[@chrissytheswitch]

I've listened at least 10 times now

[@eugenemiya4935]

I just did a quick check and I find at least 6 copies of this, Ralph Leighton's recording of RPF's Los Alamos from Below lecture. The speaker introducing RPF is Joe Hirschfelder a former LASL chemist. The safes question was asked by my friend Rik Smoody, who was a Caltech frosh but dropped out to attend UCSB and who briefly had RPF's physics class. This story and the others were part of a seminar series which I attended by Larry Badash (UCSB History), Joe Hirschfelder (adjunct UCSB Chemistry and I think U Wisc.) and Herb Broida (UCSB Physics) with 10 lectures reproduced in Reminences of Los Alamos). Thank goodness I was taking a class of complex analysis when Joe made his opening comment (I agree, quite true). For my own purposes of understanding media, I am aware of 4 different renderings of Below: 1) Ralph's recording (with his editing, the real lecture which included Stanley Frankel's safe story appears in Joking (book) in the chapter following Below), 2) the seminar proceedings (Larry's book), 3) an audio book read some English speaker (sounds flat, he sounds nothing like RPF in real life; Feynman critics, as mentioned by Chris Sykes in his biography, probably prefer this ), and 4) the movie rights purchased by Matthew Broderick and his mom made into the movie Infinity including an appearance of Michelle Feynman). I think our class had just over 100 students. We had dinner with most of the speakers as well as associated ex-LASL (and LLNL) people who came by including Teller and Ted Taylor. And I'd eventually visit LANL, I think I might have been the first of Larry's students to actually go to LANL. Diner was with guys like Norris Bradbury, John Manley, Laura Fermi, et al. I'd later take a job at. JPL, Caltech's Federal Lab and I would spend time working at Caltech for the Lab. Herb drowned in the Sespe River on hike. I don't recall about Joe, easily searched. And I stayed in touch with Larry and introduced him to LLNL and LANL people up to his passing. I miss those guys. But I also agree (with others) like Murray Gell-Mann that RPF spent too much time story telling. I also had a climbing partner who was one of RPFs rare grad student, (Bill Burke, UCSC) (with Wheeler and Thorne). Most people have no clue what a tough place Caltech is (that that's the way it's spelled). The above is for purposes of bibliographic ancillary data (metadata).

[@Anomander888]

I wish I could take his classes for infinity ♾ 😪 Rip to one of the greatest men who ever lived .

[@mathew00]

After watching some of his videos i feel like mathematics and language have blocked me from seeing the world for the past 43 years. What I mean is, he tries to describe the world as it's actually happening. But I feel that mathematics and language has had me looking at the world through an abstraction layer. Amazing!

[@amlesion9142]

Saw the movie Oppenheimer. Didn't register in my mind that the character who observed Trinity without wearing the safety goggles inside a truck was him.

[@indigohammer5732]

He’s the guy with the Bongos

[@Bultish]

If there was video of this Netflix would buy it and call it "Richard Feynmans los alamos comedy special" ... Brilliant, listening for the second time today haha

[@acerbicatheist2893]

Richard P. Feynman - sorely missed. They don't make him more than once.

[@tested211]

Props for this. What a joyful man Feynman was..... and yes, one definitely needs to hear the safe-cracking section :)

[@toreibjo]

1:08:00 and the next minute or so, until the question part starts, is so bone chilling, I'm out of words

[@webbtrekker534]

I've always been a big fan of Faynman ever since I read one of his books. My kind of guy!

[@ericcommarato7727]

Was glad to see Jack Quaid play Richard Feynman in the motion picture Oppenheimer.

[@summerlove7779]

Did they portray Feynman properly?

[@ericcommarato7727]

@@summerlove7779 seeing the picture tomorrow…will let you know.

[@AerialFire]

@@summerlove7779 I would say not really. We see him in the background a few times, but nothing substantial and I didn't feel his "quirkiness" show at all.

[@shockingguy]

Gosh what a great talk, I’d give anything to have been able to listen to some of these guys just witnessed them in the room once just once 👍❤️

[@joejee01]

Happy 100 year Birthday to Richard Feynman

[@PabloGarcia-sf7bn]

I had no idea Mr. Feynman was hilarious. To realize it took him 30 years to come to grips with what was created. And to realize we might make it past all that if we continue to communicate and remind ourselves what is at stake if we don’t. Would be good if our politicians had more humility and less rhetoric. Thanks for the video bro!

[@summerlove7779]

9:00 "When they make a moving picture about this", here we are in 2023 a day before "Oppenheimer" is being released.

[@seandafny]

Why did i find this at this time today. I will not listen to anymore because i will be hooked

[@walterbishop3668]

Download it and put it on a SSD. my experience with the youtube is that your videos in your favorites will disappear after a while.

[@icecreaminc8013]

what an absolutely extraordinary and wonderful man. R.I.P Professor Feynman