Feynman Lectures?

[AleoMagus]

I'm thinking of getting the first couple volumes of the Audio Feynman lectures. Anybody ever listen to these? Are they any good?

Keep in mind that while I already know a bit about physics, I have never formally studied beyond a first year University course, and first year calculus. Well, that and a lot of popular books on the subject.

Regards
Brad S

[gumpzilla]

I've heard a little bit of Feynman audio, but not enough to give you a solid opinion. I think a lot of people aren't ready for how New York he sounds.

If the audio Feynman Lectures are just audio versions of the actual Feynman Lectures themselves, then yes, they're good. I don't think they take tons of background to follow, but they aren't exactly light reading, either. Material from Volumes 1 and 3 is probably the most interesting - Vol. 1 is classical fundamentals and covers lots of different stuff, Vol. 2 is E&M, Vol. 3 is quantum.

[jason_t]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm thinking of getting the first couple volumes of the Audio Feynman lectures. Anybody ever listen to these? Are they any good?

Keep in mind that while I already know a bit about physics, I have never formally studied beyond a first year University course, and first year calculus. Well, that and a lot of popular books on the subject.

Regards
Brad S

[/ QUOTE ]

I've listened to these lectures and read the books. They are incredible.

[BZ_Zorro]

Brilliant stuff. I only have the books (basically the lectures transcribed and edited) but they are great reading.

[ QUOTE ]
Keep in mind that while I already know a bit about physics, I have never formally studied beyond a first year University course, and first year calculus. Well, that and a lot of popular books on the subject.

[/ QUOTE ]
While there are many broader discussions, there is also a lot of math in these books, so you'll probably be left high and dry at times. Just a warning.

[Hellmouth]

I dont know how these could possibly be worth listening to because in the book form there are many equations and diagrams. How would you know what is going on?

That said, if they come with this material included in written form as well then I would highly recommend it.

If not, and you are still interested I would recommend getting both just so that you can keep up. All three volumes can be purchased together in paperback as a set for ~$70. It comes with a nice box to keep them from getting messed up or falling over on the shelf.

Greg

[fnord_too]

[ QUOTE ]
I think a lot of people aren't ready for how New York he sounds.



[/ QUOTE ]

LOL that is so true. When I first saw a tape with him talking I was caought completely off guard.

[maurile]

[ QUOTE ]
I dont know how these could possibly be worth listening to because in the book form there are many equations and diagrams. How would you know what is going on?

[/ QUOTE ]
Many of the lectures don't have any equations or diagrams. If you get the "Six Easy Pieces" set, for example, all of those lectures are easy to listen to.

The books are transcribed from the recorded lectures (and snapshots of the chalk board in the classroom), so they have the same content.

They are fun to listen to. I think the New York accent is the best part.

[kpux]

I've always been curious as to why these lectures are so famous. What does Feynman talk about that I couldn't find in any ordinary physics textbook? Not trying to sound sarcastic or anything, just wondering. Does he add some philosophical spin or something?

[MelchyBeau]

I've read a good number of physics books and my B.S. is in physics. One thing I can tell you is many of these people should not be writing text books nor teaching. Feynman, on the other hand was a great teacher. There is an engineer at work who went to CalTech while feynman was there, He said that Feynman when explaining somnething, could make you look at an idea and make you think 'it is so elementary why couldn't I understand it before'

In short, I have his book lectures, and they are great

Melch

[ACPlayer]

.. were my absolute favorite reading materials and texts in college. The Feynmann series in particular explains the concepts in a way that I could easily grasp and understand. I spent the first summer vacation reading these (and got totally fascinated by the quantam mechanics sections -- and yes I was quite the geek). I never attended a single Physics class and yet aced all the exams, and owe a lot of that to these texts.

Incidentally the other book I remember vividly from college days was Minsky's Theory of Computation. It made for great bedtime reading.

Sigh, reminiscing about college days -- so many decades ago!

[gumpzilla]

I'm not sure that these books make particularly good textbooks. Why are they so popular? First off, there is a massive cult of Feynman. Secondly, he has legitimately interesting ways of looking at a broad variety of phenomena. His insights, and what he chooses to accentuate, are interesting in themselves, even though the material covered in the lectures can certainly be studied elsewhere.