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[BK-2020-09.git] / en.wikipedia.org / The_Feynman_Lectures_on_Physics / article.txt

{{Short description|Textbook by Richard Feynman}}
{{Hatnote|Not to be confused with [[The Character of Physical Law]]}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox book
| name          = The Feynman Lectures on Physics
| image         = The Feynman Lectures on Physics.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| caption = ''The Feynman Lectures on Physics'' including Feynman's ''Tips on Physics: The Definitive and Extended Edition'' (2nd edition, 2005)
| author        = [[Richard Feynman]], [[Robert B. Leighton]], [[Matthew Sands]]
| illustrator   = 
| cover_artist  = 
| country       = [[United States]]
| language      = [[English language|English]]
| series        = 
| subject       = Physics
| publisher     = Addison–Wesley
| pub_date      = 1964. revised and extended edition in 2005
| media_type    = 
| pages         = 
| website       = [https://feynmanlectures.caltech.edu feynmanlectures.caltech.edu]
| oclc          = 19455482
| preceded_by   = 
| followed_by   = 
}}

'''''The Feynman Lectures on Physics''''' is a [[physics]] [[textbook]] based on some lectures by [[Richard Feynman]], a Nobel laureate who has sometimes been called "The Great Explainer".<ref>{{cite book |last=LeVine |first=Harry |year=2009 |title=The Great Explainer: The Story of Richard Feynman |publisher=Morgan Reynolds |location=Greensboro, North Carolina |isbn=978-1-59935-113-1}}</ref> The lectures were presented before [[undergraduate student]]s at the [[California Institute of Technology]] (Caltech), during 1961–1963.  The book's co-authors are Feynman, [[Robert B. Leighton]], and [[Matthew Sands]].

A 2013 review in ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' described the book as having "simplicity, beauty, unity ... presented with enthusiasm and insight".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Phillips|first=Rob|date=2013-12-05|title=In retrospect: The Feynman Lectures on Physics|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=504|issue=7478|pages=30–31|doi=10.1038/504030a|pmid=24305137|issn=0028-0836|bibcode=2013Natur.504...30P|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Description==
The textbook comprises three volumes.  The first volume focuses on [[mechanics]], [[radiation]], and [[heat]], including [[Special relativity|relativistic effects]]. The second volume covers mainly [[electromagnetism]] and [[matter]]. The third volume covers [[quantum mechanics]]; for example, it shows how the [[double-slit experiment]] demonstrates the essential features of quantum mechanics. The book also includes chapters on the [[relationship between mathematics and physics]], and the relationship of physics to other sciences.

In 2013, Caltech in cooperation with The Feynman Lectures Website made the book freely available, on the web site.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://feynmanlectures.caltech.edu |title=The Feynman Lectures in Physics |access-date=20 May 2020 |archive-date=4 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220304124051/https://feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Background==
[[File:FeynmanLecturesOnPhysics.jpg|thumb|Feynman the “Great Explainer”: ''The Feynman Lectures on Physics'' found an appreciative audience beyond the undergraduate community.]]
By 1960, [[Richard Feynman]]’s research and discoveries in physics had resolved a number of troubling inconsistencies in several fundamental theories. In particular, it was his work in [[quantum electrodynamics]] for which [[List of Nobel laureates in Physics|he was awarded]] the 1965 [[List of Nobel laureates in Physics|Nobel Prize in physics]]. At the same time that Feynman was at the pinnacle of his fame, the faculty of the [[Caltech|California Institute of Technology]] was concerned about the quality of the introductory courses for undergraduate students. It was thought the courses were burdened by an old-fashioned syllabus and the exciting discoveries of recent years, many of which had occurred at Caltech, were not being taught to the students.

Thus, it was decided to reconfigure the first physics course offered to students at Caltech, with the goal being to generate more excitement in the students. Feynman readily agreed to give the course, though only once. Aware of the fact that this would be a historic event, Caltech recorded each lecture and took photographs of each drawing made on the blackboard by Feynman.

Based on the lectures and the tape recordings, a team of physicists and graduate students put together a manuscript that would become ''The Feynman Lectures on Physics''. Although Feynman's most valuable technical contribution to the field of physics may have been in the field of quantum electrodynamics, the Feynman Lectures were destined to become his most widely-read work.

''The Feynman Lectures'' are considered to be one of the most sophisticated and comprehensive college-level introductions to physics.<ref>{{citation|title=From paradox to reality: our basic concepts of the physical world|first1=Fritz|last1=Rohrlich|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1989|isbn=978-0-521-37605-1|page=157|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3TqA1394OVcC|access-date=2016-04-03|archive-date=2011-06-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629110209/http://books.google.com/books?id=3TqA1394OVcC|url-status=live}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=3TqA1394OVcC&pg=PA157 Extract of page 157] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629110213/http://books.google.com/books?id=3TqA1394OVcC&pg=PA157 |date=2011-06-29 }}</ref> Feynman himself stated in his original preface that he was “pessimistic” with regard to his success in reaching all of his students. The Feynman lectures were written “to maintain the interest of very enthusiastic and rather smart students coming out of high schools and into Caltech”. Feynman was targeting the lectures to students who, “at the end of two years of our previous course, [were] very discouraged because there were really very few grand, new, modern ideas presented to them”. As a result, some physics students find the lectures more valuable after they have obtained a good grasp of physics by studying more traditional texts, and the books are sometimes seen as more helpful for teachers than for students.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Crease|first=Robert P.|date=2014|title=Feynman's failings|journal=Physics World|language=en|volume=27|issue=3|pages=25|doi=10.1088/2058-7058/27/03/34|issn=2058-7058|bibcode=2014PhyW...27c..25C}}</ref>

While the two-year course (1961–1963) was still underway, rumors of it spread throughout the physics research and teaching community. In a special preface to the 1989 edition, [[David Goodstein]] and [[Gerry Neugebauer]] claimed that as time went on, the attendance of registered undergraduate students dropped sharply but was matched by a compensating increase in the number of faculty and graduate students. Co-author [[Matthew Sands]], in his memoir accompanying the 2005 edition, contested this claim. Goodstein and Neugebauer also stated that, “it was [Feynman’s] peers — scientists, physicists, and professors — who would be the main beneficiaries of his magnificent achievement, which was nothing less than to see physics through the fresh and dynamic perspective of Richard Feynman”, and that his "gift was that he was an extraordinary teacher of teachers".

[[Addison-Wesley]] published a collection of exercises and problems to accompany ''The Feynman Lectures on Physics''. The problem sets were first used in the 1962–1963 academic year, and were organized by [[Robert B. Leighton]]. Some of the problems are sophisticated and difficult enough to require an understanding of advanced topics, such as [[Kolmogorov's zero–one law]]. The original set of books and supplements contained a number of errors, some of which rendered problems insoluble. Various [[errata]] were issued, which are now available online.<ref name="Errata">{{cite web|title=Errata for The Feynman Lectures on Physics|url=https://feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/info/errata.html|website=feynmanlectures.caltech.edu}}</ref>

Addison-Wesley also released in [[compact disc|CD]] format all the [[audio tape]]s of the lectures, over 103 hours with Richard Feynman, after [[Audio mastering|remastering]] the sound and clearing the recordings. For the CD release, the order of the lectures was rearranged from that of the original texts. The publisher has released a table showing the [https://feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/info/other/Feynman_lectures_Audio_CD_map.htm correspondence between the books and the CDs].

In March 1964, Feynman appeared once again before the freshman physics class as a lecturer, but the notes for this particular guest lecture were lost for a number of years. They were finally located, restored, and made available as ''[[Feynman's Lost Lecture: The Motion of Planets Around the Sun]]''.

In 2005, Michael A. Gottlieb and [[Ralph Leighton]] co-authored ''Feynman's Tips on Physics'', which includes four of Feynman's freshman lectures which had not been included in the main text (three on [[problem solving]], one on [[inertial guidance]]), a memoir by Matthew Sands about the origins of the ''Feynman Lectures on Physics'', and exercises (with answers) that were assigned to students by Robert B. Leighton and Rochus Vogt in recitation sections of the Feynman Lectures course at Caltech. Also released in 2005, was a "Definitive Edition" of the lectures which included corrections to the original text.

An account of the history of these famous volumes is given by Sands in his memoir article “Capturing the Wisdom of Feynman",<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sands|first=Matthew|date=2005-04-01|title=Capturing the Wisdom of Feynman|journal=Physics Today|volume=58|issue=4|pages=49–55|doi=10.1063/1.1955479|issn=0031-9228|bibcode=2005PhT....58d..49S}}</ref> and another article "Memories of Feynman" by the physicist T. A. Welton.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Welton|first=Theodore A.|date=2007-02-01|title=Memories of Feynman|journal=Physics Today|language=en|volume=60|issue=2|pages=46–52|doi=10.1063/1.2711636|bibcode=2007PhT....60b..46W}}</ref>

In a September 13, 2013 email to members of the Feynman Lectures online forum, Gottlieb announced the launch of a new [https://feynmanlectures.caltech.edu website] by Caltech and The Feynman Lectures Website which offers "[A] free high-quality online edition" of the lecture text. To provide a device-independent reading experience, the website takes advantage of modern web technologies like [[HTML5]], [[Scalable Vector Graphics|SVG]], and [[MathJax]] to present text, figures, and equations in any sizes while maintaining the display quality.<ref name="FLP-NM-HTML">Footnote on homepage of website ''The Feynman Lectures on Physics''.</ref>

==Contents==
<!-- As this is an extract from the contents of v1, v2, and v3, a [[fair use]] under copyright comment may be needed -->

===''Volume I: Mainly mechanics, radiation, and heat''===
:Preface: “When new ideas came in, I would try either to deduce them if they were deducible or to explain that it was a new idea … and which was not supposed to be provable.”
;Chapters
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
# [[Atom]]s in motion
# Basic Physics
# The relation of [[physics]] to other [[science]]s
# [[Conservation of energy]]
# [[Time]] and [[distance]]
# [[Probability]]
# The [[theory]] of [[gravitation]]
# [[Motion]]
# [[Isaac Newton|Newton]]'s [[Newton's laws of motion|laws of dynamics]]
# [[Conservation of momentum]]
# [[Euclidean vector|Vectors]]
# Characteristics of [[force]]
# [[Mechanical work|Work]] and [[potential energy]] (A)
# [[Mechanical work|Work]] and [[potential energy]] (conclusion)
# [[Special relativity|The special theory of relativity]]
# [[Theory of relativity|Relativistic]] [[energy]] and [[momentum]]
# [[Space-time]]
# Rotation in two [[dimensions]]
# [[Center of mass]]; [[Moment of inertia]]
# [[Rotation]] in [[space]]
# The [[harmonic]] [[Harmonic oscillator|oscillator]]
# [[Algebra]]
# [[Resonance]]
# Transients
# [[Linear system]]s and review
# [[Optics]]: [[Fermat's principle|The principle of least time]]
# [[Geometrical optics]]
# [[Electromagnetic radiation]]
# [[Interference (wave propagation)|Interference]]
# [[Diffraction]]
# The origin of the [[refractive index]]
# [[Radiation damping]]. [[Scattering|Light scattering]]
# [[Polarization (waves)|Polarization]]
# Relativistic effects in radiation
# [[Color vision]]
# [[:Category:Vision|Mechanisms of seeing]]
# [[Quantum mechanics|Quantum behavior]]
# The Relation of [[Wave]] and [[Elementary particle|particle]] viewpoints
# The [[kinetic theory of gases|kinetic theory]] of [[gases]]
# The principles of [[statistical mechanics]]
# [[Brownian motion|The brownian movement]]
# Applications of [[kinetic theory of gases|kinetic theory]]
# [[Diffusion]]
# [[Thermodynamics#Laws of thermodynamics|The laws of thermodynamics]]
# Illustrations of [[thermodynamics]]
# [[ratchet (device)|Ratchet and pawl]]
# [[Sound]]. [[Wave#Wave equation|The wave equation]]
# [[Beat (acoustics)|Beat]]s
# [[Normal mode|Mode]]s
# [[Harmonics]]
# [[Wave]]s
# [[Symmetry (physics)|Symmetry]] in [[physical laws]]
{{div col end}}

===''Volume II: Mainly electromagnetism and matter''===
;Chapters
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
# [[Electromagnetism]]
# [[Differential calculus]] of [[vector fields]]
# [[Vector calculus|Vector integral calculus]]
# [[Electrostatics]]
# Application of [[Gauss' law]]
# The [[electric field]] in various circumstances
# The electric field in various circumstances (continued)
# [[Electrostatic energy]]
# [[Electricity]] in the [[Earth's atmosphere|atmosphere]]
# [[Dielectrics]]
# Inside dielectrics
# Electrostatic analogs
# [[Magnetostatics]]
# The [[magnetic field]] in various situations
# The [[vector potential]]
# [[Electromagnetic induction|Induced currents]]
# The [[Faraday's law of induction|laws of induction]]
# [[Maxwell's equations|The Maxwell equations]]
# [[Principle of least action]]
# Solutions of [[Maxwell's equations]] in [[free space]]
# Solutions of Maxwell's equations with [[current (electricity)|currents]] and [[Electric charge|charges]]
# [[Alternating current|AC]] [[electrical network|circuits]]
# [[Cavity resonator]]s
# [[Waveguide]]s
# [[Electrodynamics]] in relativistic notation
# [[Lorentz transformations]] of the [[field (physics)|fields]]
# Field energy and field momentum
# [[Electromagnetic mass]] (ref. to [[Wheeler–Feynman absorber theory]])
# The [[motion (physics)|motion]] of [[Electric charge|charges]] in [[electric field|electric]] and [[magnetic field]]s
# The internal geometry of [[crystals]]
# [[Tensor]]s
# [[Refractive index]] of dense materials
# [[Reflection (physics)|Reflection]] from surfaces
# The [[magnetism]] of matter
# [[Paramagnetism]] and [[Nuclear magnetic resonance|magnetic resonance]]
# [[Ferromagnetism]]
# Magnetic materials
# [[Elasticity (physics)|Elasticity]]
# Elastic materials
# The flow of dry water
# The flow of wet water
# [[Curvature of space#The "curvature" of spacetime|Curved space]]
{{div col end}}

===''Volume III: Quantum mechanics''===
;Chapters
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
# [[Quantum mechanics|Quantum behavior]]
# The relation of [[wave-particle duality|wave and particle viewpoints]]
# [[Probability amplitude]]s
# Identical [[Elementary particle|particles]]
# [[spin (physics)|Spin]] one
# [[spin-1/2|Spin one-half]]
# The dependence of [[Probability amplitude|amplitudes]] on time
# The [[Hamiltonian (quantum mechanics)|Hamiltonian matrix]]
# The [[ammonia]] [[maser]]
# Other [[two-state quantum system|two-state systems]]
# More two-state systems
# The [[hyperfine splitting]] in [[hydrogen]]
# [[wave propagation|Propagation]] in a [[crystal lattice]]
# [[Semiconductor]]s
# The independent particle approximation
# The dependence of amplitudes on position
# [[Symmetry]] and [[conservation laws]]
# [[Angular momentum]]
# The [[hydrogen atom]] and the [[periodic table]]
# [[Operator (physics)|Operators]]
# The [[Schrödinger equation]] in a classical context: a seminar on [[superconductivity]]
{{div col end}}

==Abbreviated editions==
Six readily-accessible chapters were later compiled into a book entitled ''Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher''.  Six more chapters are in the book ''Six Not So Easy Pieces: Einstein's Relativity, Symmetry and Space-Time''.

“''Six Easy Pieces'' grew out of the need to bring to as wide an audience as possible, a substantial yet nontechnical physics [[Primer (textbook)|primer]] based on the science of Richard Feynman... General readers are fortunate that Feynman chose to present certain key topics in largely qualitative terms without formal mathematics…”<ref>{{cite book|title=Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher|first1=Richard Phillips|last1=Feynman|first2=Robert B.|last2=Leighton|first3=Matthew|last3=Sands|publisher=Basic Books|year=2011|isbn=978-0-465-02529-9|page=vii|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2OCKrF6YNKEC|access-date=2016-04-03|archive-date=2016-10-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161023053745/https://books.google.com/books?id=2OCKrF6YNKEC|url-status=live}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=2OCKrF6YNKEC&pg=PR7 Extract of page vii]</ref>

===''Six Easy Pieces'' (1994)===
Chapters:
#[[Atoms]] in [[motion (physics)|motion]]
#Basic Physics
#The relation of [[physics]] to other [[science]]s
#[[Conservation of energy]]
#The [[theory]] of [[gravitation]]
#[[Quantum mechanics|Quantum behavior]]

===''Six Not-So-Easy Pieces'' (1998)===
Chapters:
#[[vector (geometric)|Vector]]s
#[[Symmetry (physics)|Symmetry]] in [[physical laws]]
#[[Special relativity|The special theory of relativity]]
#[[Theory of relativity|Relativistic]] [[energy]] and [[momentum]]
#[[Space-time]]
#[[Curvature of space#Quantum field theory in curved spacetime|Curved space]]

===''The Very Best of The Feynman Lectures'' (Audio, 2005) ===
Chapters:
#The Theory of Gravitation (Vol. I, Chapter 7)
#Curved Space (Vol. II, Chapter 42)
#Electromagnetism (Vol. II, Chapter 1)
#Probability (Vol. I, Chapter 6)
#The Relation of Wave and Particle Viewpoints (Vol. III, Chapter 2)
#Superconductivity (Vol. III, Chapter 21)

==Publishing information==
* [[Richard Feynman|Feynman R]], [[Robert B. Leighton|Leighton R]], and [[Matthew Sands|Sands M.]] ''The Feynman Lectures on Physics''. Three volumes 1964, 1966. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 63-20717 <!-- Anyone know the original 1964 ISBN? -- They didn't use ISBNs back then. LCC was the numbering system at that time, which was primarily for US books. -->
** {{ISBN|0-201-02115-3}} (1970 paperback three-volume set)
** {{ISBN|0-201-50064-7}} (1989 commemorative hardcover three-volume set)
** {{ISBN|0-8053-9045-6}} (2006 the definitive edition, 2nd printing, hardcover)
* ''Feynman's Tips On Physics: A Problem-Solving Supplement to the Feynman Lectures on Physics'' (hardcover) {{ISBN|0-8053-9063-4}}
* ''Six Easy Pieces'' (hardcover book with original Feynman audio on CDs) {{ISBN|0-201-40896-1}}
* ''Six Easy Pieces'' (paperback book) {{ISBN|0-201-40825-2}}
* ''Six Not-So-Easy Pieces'' (paperback book with original Feynman audio on CDs) {{ISBN|0-201-32841-0}}
* ''Six Not-So-Easy Pieces'' (paperback book) {{ISBN|0-201-32842-9}}
* ''Exercises for the Feynman Lectures'' (paperback book) {{ISBN|2-35648-789-1}} (out of print)
*  [[Richard Feynman|Feynman R]], [[Robert B. Leighton|Leighton R]], and [[Matthew Sands|Sands M.]], The Feynman Lectures Website, September 2013.
** [https://feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/I_toc.html "The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume I"] (online edition)
** [https://feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/II_toc.html "The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume II"] (online edition)
** [https://feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/III_toc.html "The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume III"] (online edition)

==See also==
*''[[Berkeley Physics Course]]'' – another contemporaneously developed and influential college-level physics series
*''[[The Character of Physical Law]]'' – a condensed series of Feynman lectures for scientists and non-scientists
*[[Project Tuva]]
*[[List of textbooks on classical and quantum mechanics]]
*[[List of textbooks in electromagnetism|List of textbooks on electromagnetism]]
*[[List of textbooks in thermodynamics and statistical mechanics|List of textbooks on thermodynamics and statistical mechanics]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[https://feynmanlectures.caltech.edu ''The Feynman Lectures on Physics''] California Institute of Technology (Caltech) – HTML edition.
*[https://feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/info/ ''The Feynman Lectures on Physics''] The Feynman Lectures Website – HTML edition and also exercises and other related material. 
{{Richard Feynman}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feynman Lectures On Physics}}
[[Category:1964 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Physics textbooks]]
[[Category:Works by Richard Feynman]]
[[Category:Books of lectures]]
[[Category:American non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Series of non-fiction books]]