The Feynman Lectures on Physics
1431741
222481166
2008-06-29T15:56:30Z
Mpatel
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lk to [[modern physics]]
[[Image:The Feynman Lectures on Physics.jpg|thumb|250px|The Feynman Lectures on Physics including Feynman's Tips on Physics: The Definitive and Extended Edition (2nd edition, 2005)]] [[Image:FeynmanLecturesOnPhysics.jpg|thumb|250px|Cover of Volumes 1 and 2 of the CD release of The Feynman Lectures on Physics]] The '''''Feynman Lectures on Physics''''' by [[Richard Feynman]], [[Robert B. Leighton (physicist)|Robert Leighton]], and Matthew Sands is perhaps Feynman's most accessible technical work and is considered a classic introduction to [[modern physics]]. It includes lectures on [[mathematics]], [[electromagnetism]], [[Newtonian physics]], [[quantum physics]], and even the relation of physics to other sciences. It has three volumes, which were compiled from material presented in a two-year introductory physics course given in the early 1960s by Feynman at [[Caltech]]. Six readily accessible chapters were later compiled into a book entitled ''Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher,'' and six more in ''Six Not So Easy Pieces: Einstein's Relativity, Symmetry and Space-Time.''
The first volume focuses on [[mechanics]], [[radiation]], and [[heat]]. The second volume is mainly on [[electromagnetism]] and [[matter]]. The third volume, on [[quantum mechanics]], shows, for example, how the [[double-slit experiment]] contains the essential features of quantum mechanics.
A best account on the history of these famous volumes is given by
one of their authors, M. Sands, in his memoir article
[http://scitation.aip.org/journals/doc/PHTOAD-ft/vol_58/iss_4/49_1.shtml "Capturing the Wisdom of Feynman"],
<i>Physics Today</i>, Apr 2005, p.49; see also<ref>
Welton, T.A.,
[http://scitation.aip.org/journals/doc/PHTOAD-ft/vol_60/iss_2/46_1.shtml "Memory of Feynman"],
<i>Physics Today</i>, Feb 2007, p.46.
</ref>
==Background==
By [[1960]] [[Richard Feynman]] was already a legend in his own time; at age 42 his 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]] which would lead to the awarding in [[1965]] of the [[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 being offered to the undergraduate students. It was felt that these were burdened by an old-fashioned syllabus and that the exciting discoveries of recent years, many of which had occurred at Caltech, were not being conveyed 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. Who better to teach this course than the most famous lecturer of physics on campus? To the surprise of the Department, 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.
Today the Feynman Lectures are considered by many<ref>[http://www.amazon.com/review/product/0805390456/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_5?%5Fencoding=UTF8&filterBy=addFiveStar Customer reviews on Amazon.com]</ref> to be the best introductory set of lectures on Physics ever written. Feynman himself however stated in his original preface that he was "pessimistic" with regard to the success with which he reached 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 obtain a good grasp of physics by studying more traditional texts. Many professional physicists refer to the lectures at various points in their careers to refresh their minds with regard to basic principles.
As the two-year course (1961–63) was still being completed, word of it spread throughout the physics community. In a special preface to the 1989 edition, David Goodstein and Gerry Neugebauer claim that as time went on, the attendance of registered students dropped sharply but was matched by a compensating increase in the number of faculty and graduate students. Sands, in his memoir accompanying the 2005 edition, contests this claim. Goodstein and Neugebauer also state 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". In the 1980s, Goodstein produced a new set of freshman physics lectures called [[The Mechanical Universe]], which in itself is a classic Caltech lecture series which borrows some of its historically based video scenes from Carl Sagan's Cosmos television series.
Addison-Wesley published a collection of problems to accompany ''The Feynman Lectures on Physics.'' The problem sets were first used in the 1962-1963 academic year and organized by Robert Leighton. Some of the problems are sophisticated enough to require understanding of topics as advanced as [[Kolmogorov's zero-one law]], for example.
Addison-Wesley also released in CD format all the audiotapes of the lectures, over 103 hours with Richard Feynman, after remastering the sound and clearing the recordings. For the CD release, the order of the lectures was rearranged from that of the original texts.
In March 1964 Feynman appeared before the freshman physics class as a guest lecturer, but the notes for this 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 not included in the main text (three on problem solving, one on inertial guidance), a memoir by Matt Sands about the origins of the ''Feynman Lectures on Physics,'' and exercises (with answers) that were assigned to students by Robert 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 includes corrections to the original text.
==Contents==
<!-- As this is an extract from the contents of v1, v2, and v3, a fair use under copyright comment may be needed -->
===Volume 1. 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."<br>
Chapter 1. Atoms in motion<br>
Chapter 2. Basic Physics<br>
Chapter 3. The relation of [[physics]] to other [[science]]s<br>
Chapter 4. [[Conservation of energy]]<br>
Chapter 5. [[Time]] and [[distance]]<br>
Chapter 6. [[Probability]]<br>
Chapter 7. The [[theory]] of [[gravitation]]<br>
Chapter 8. [[motion (physics)|Motion]]<br>
Chapter 9. [[Isaac Newton|Newton]]'s [[Newton's laws of motion|laws of dynamics]]<br>
Chapter 10. [[Conservation of momentum]]<br>
Chapter 11. [[Vector (spatial)|Vector]]s<br>
Chapter 12. Characteristics of [[force]]<br>
Chapter 13. [[Mechanical work|Work]] and [[potential energy]] (A)<br>
Chapter 14. [[Mechanical work|Work]] and [[potential energy]] (conclusion)<br>
Chapter 15. [[Special relativity|The special theory of relativity]]<br>
Chapter 16. [[Theory of relativity|Relativistic]] [[energy]] and [[momentum]]<br>
Chapter 17. [[Space-time]]<br>
Chapter 18. Rotation in two [[dimensions]]<br>
Chapter 19. [[Center of mass]]; [[Moment of inertia]]<br>
Chapter 20. [[Rotation]] in [[space]]<br>
Chapter 21. The [[harmonic]] [[Harmonic oscillator|oscillator]]<br>
Chapter 22. [[Algebra]]<br>
Chapter 23. [[Resonance]]<br>
Chapter 24. [[Transient]]s<br>
Chapter 25. [[Linear system]]s and review<br>
Chapter 26. [[Optics]]: [[Fermat's principle|The principle of least time]]<br>
Chapter 27. [[Geometrical optics]]<br>
Chapter 28. [[Electromagnetic]] [[radiation]]<br>
Chapter 29. [[Interference]]<br>
Chapter 30. [[Diffraction]]<br>
Chapter 31. The origin of the [[refractive index]]<br>
Chapter 32. [[Radiation damping]]. [[Scattering|Light scattering]]<br>
Chapter 33. [[Polarization]]<br>
Chapter 34. Relativistic effects in radiation<br>
Chapter 35. [[Color vision]]<br>
Chapter 36. [[:Category:Vision|Mechanisms of seeing]]<br>
Chapter 37. [[Quantum mechanics|Quantum behavior]]<br>
Chapter 38. The Relation of [[Wave]] and [[Elementary particle|particle]] viewpoints<br>
Chapter 39. The [[kinetic theory]] of [[gases]]<br>
Chapter 40. The principles of [[statistical mechanics]]<br>
Chapter 41. [[Brownian motion|The brownian movement]]<br>
Chapter 42. Applications of [[kinetic theory]]<br>
Chapter 43. [[Diffusion]]<br>
Chapter 44. [[Thermodynamics#The Laws of Thermodynamics|The laws of thermodynamics]]<br>
Chapter 45. Illustrations of [[thermodynamics]]<br>
Chapter 46. [[Ratchet]] and [[pawl]]<br>
Chapter 47. [[Sound]]. [[Wave#The wave equation|The wave equation]]<br>
Chapter 48. [[Beat (acoustics)|Beat]]s<br>
Chapter 49. [[Normal mode|Mode]]s<br>
Chapter 50. [[Harmonics]]<br>
Chapter 51. [[Waves]]<br>
Chapter 52. [[Symmetry in physics|Symmetry]] in [[physical laws]]
===Volume 2. Mainly electromagnetism and matter===
Chapter 1. [[Electromagnetism]]<br>
Chapter 2. [[Differential calculus]] of [[vector fields]]<br>
Chapter 3. [[Vector calculus|Vector integral calculus]]<br>
Chapter 4. [[Electrostatics]]<br>
Chapter 5. Application of [[Gauss' law]]<br>
Chapter 6. The [[electric field]] in various circumstances<br>
Chapter 7. The electric field in various circumstances (continued)<br>
Chapter 8. [[Electrostatic energy]]<br>
Chapter 9. [[Electricity]] in the [[Earth's atmosphere|atmosphere]]<br>
Chapter 10. [[Dielectrics]]<br>
Chapter 11. Inside dielectrics<br>
Chapter 12. Electrostatic analogs<br>
Chapter 13. [[Magnetostatics]]<br>
Chapter 14. The [[magnetic field]] in various situations<br>
Chapter 15. The [[vector potential]]<br>
Chapter 16. [[Electromagnetic induction|Induced currents]]<br>
Chapter 17. The [[Faraday's law of induction|laws of induction]]<br>
Chapter 18. [[Maxwell's equations|The Maxwell equations]]<br>
Chapter 19. [[Fermat's principle|The principle of least action]]<br>
Chapter 20. Solutions of [[Maxwell's equations]] in [[free space]]<br>
Chapter 21. Solutions of Maxwell's equations with [[current (electricity)|currents]] and [[Electric charge|charges]]<br>
Chapter 22. [[Alternating current|AC]] [[electrical network|circuits]]<br>
Chapter 23. [[Cavity resonator]]s<br>
Chapter 24. [[Waveguide]]s<br>
Chapter 25. [[Electrodynamics]] in relativistic notation<br>
Chapter 26. [[Lorentz transformations]] of the [[field (physics)|fields]]<br>
Chapter 27. Field energy and field momentum<br>
Chapter 28. [[Electromagnetic mass]]<br>
Chapter 29. The [[motion (physics)|motion]] of [[Electric charge|charges]] in [[electric field|electric]] and [[magnetic field]]s<br>
Chapter 30. The internal geometry of [[crystals]]<br>
Chapter 31. [[Tensors]]<br>
Chapter 32. [[Refractive index]] of dense materials<br>
Chapter 33. [[Reflection (physics)|Reflection]] from surfaces<br>
Chapter 34. The [[magnetism]] of matter<br>
Chapter 35. [[Paramagnetism]] and [[magnetic resonance]]<br>
Chapter 36. [[Ferromagnetism]]<br>
Chapter 37. Magnetic materials<br>
Chapter 38. [[Elasticity (physics)|Elasticity]]<br>
Chapter 39. Elastic materials<br>
Chapter 40. The flow of dry water<br>
Chapter 41. The flow of wet water<br>
Chapter 42. [[Curvature of space#The .22curvature.22 of spacetime|Curved space]]
===Volume 3. Quantum mechanics===
Chapter 1. [[Quantum mechanics|Quantum behavior]]<br>
Chapter 2. The relation of [[wave-particle duality|wave and particle viewpoints]]<br>
Chapter 3. [[Probability amplitude]]s<br>
Chapter 4. Identical [[Elementary particle|particles]]<br>
Chapter 5. [[spin (physics)|Spin]] one<br>
Chapter 6. [[spin-1/2|Spin one-half]]<br>
Chapter 7. The dependence of [[Probability amplitude|amplitudes]] on time<br>
Chapter 8. The [[Hamiltonian (quantum mechanics)|Hamiltonian matrix]]<br>
Chapter 9. The [[ammonia]] [[maser]]<br>
Chapter 10. Other [[two-state quantum system|two-state systems]]<br>
Chapter 11. More two-state systems<br>
Chapter 12. The [[hyperfine splitting]] in [[hydrogen]]<br>
Chapter 13. [[wave propagation|Propagation]] in a [[crystal lattice]]<br>
Chapter 14. [[Semiconductors]]<br>
Chapter 15. The independent particle approximation<br>
Chapter 16. The dependence of amplitudes on position<br>
Chapter 17. [[Symmetry]] and [[conservation laws]]<br>
Chapter 18. [[Angular momentum]]<br>
Chapter 19. The [[hydrogen atom]] and the [[periodic table]]<br>
Chapter 20. [[Operator (physics)|Operators]]<br>
Chapter 21. The [[Schrödinger equation]] in a classical context: a seminar on [[superconductivity]]
==Abbreviated editions==
"''Six Easy Pieces'' grew out of the need to bring to as wide an audience as possible a substantial yet nontechnical physics 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. . . ."
===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 (spatial)|Vector]]s
#[[Symmetry in 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]]
==Quotations==
* Feynman once commented, about these three volumes: "[This set of books] has views which are very close to my own."
==Publishing information==
*''The Feynman Lectures on Physics ''(with Leighton and Sands). 3 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 2-356-48789-1 from [http://www.bookstore.caltech.edu/ the Caltech Bookstore]
==References==
<references/>
==External links==
* [http://www.feynmanlectures.info/ Official web site with Feynman's exercise problems and errata]
* [http://vega.org.uk/video/subseries/8 The Douglas Robb Memorial Lectures] Free-to-view videos provided by the Vega Science Trust.
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