One day early this year, I arrived at my workstation surprised to find a book entitled "
Feynman's Rainbow" on my desk. It came with a note that read "Something to start the week on an upbeat note. Have a wonderful day, Melo. :) J". Reading the title, I immediately thought of the famous physicist Richard Feynman and quickly scanned the back blurb and was happy to be the recipient of such a book. Another item in my collection, and something related to quantum physics!
I brought the book with me to Bohol and started to
read a few pages while in Dumaluan beach in Panglao, Bohol. I didn't finish it though because the allure of the scenery was quite distracting and I kept looking far out into the sea. At that time though I was more than excited to read about one of the biggest minds that I admire, Richard Feynman the physicist.
I first learned of the him as a college freshman in UP Diliman. One of his essays was part of our reading list for Natural Science 1 class, a course I unfortunately failed to enjoy because of the large class and I often fell asleep despite whatever resistance I put up. Later on, getting hooked on chaos theory and ultimately to quantum physics mainly because of
Dr. Amador Muriel's talk in our STS class in my final year, I would always encounter his name in the books that I read.
Later on, curious about the man, I did a quick search on the net and downloaded an ebook entitled "Sure You're Joking, Mr. Feynman", read the first few pages and decided that the man is bigger than I thought. His is a curious mind since his childhood days as he spent his early years tinkering with radios and shortly after doing repair jobs while young.
So having a book written by a younger physicist about his encounter with Feynman thoroughly made my day. I wanted to see how others viewed him, how he influenced and inspired others, and also look into how his mind works, what he's like as a person. I didn't expect to be teary-eyed after reading "Feynman's Rainbow".
The book narrates Mlodinow's arrival in Caltech where he was worrying about what physics problem to work on, aside from his doubts if he has what it takes to be a scientist. Meeting Richard Feynman, then already a big man in the physics world, made him realize many things. According to Mlodinow, Feynman loved math and physics but disliked philosophy and psychology, something I found weird since I've always thought that math and philosophy could make very good bedfellows. Despite this, I found the man pretty much like those ancient philosophers who can offer great insights into many things.
Many passages in the book made me imagine scenes were the book made into an animé, and I am more than sure that if this book were adapted to a film or series, I would certainly cry. I was thinking of the animé
Honey and Clover, that series which I consider as one of the best series for its profound insights into human relationships, happiness, and life in general. In the same way, this book, although focusing on physicists and physics, has that power to inspire its readers. Personally, getting to know more about Feynman, I think I share an affinity with the man and it comforts me that I am and will be alright, too, because we share the same outlook in life--- never wasting time on things that do not rouse interest, being imaginative and intuitive and a bit pragmatic, not minding much if what we work on is deemed significant or not by others as long as it retains interest and enthusiasm, and most importantly, looking at the world through a child's lens and appreciating the beauty of phenomena and getting inspired in the process. I am also amused at how he would attend a seminar just for the cookies, something I am guilty of doing in most cases.
For instance, when asked if Mlodinow has that something special to be a scientist, Feynman answers that being a scientist is not different from the average person in that we all think in a constructive way, we all use our imagination, that the only difference is that scientists analyze things thoroughly like a detective out to solve a mystery with only a handful of clues. I love how Feynman does not elevate the status of scientists as most are wont to do because they feel they are intellectually superior to other human beings.
The book contains a lot of wise words from Feynman and here are some of them:
"(...) When there is a hard problem, one has to work a long time and has to be persistent. In order to be persistent, you have got to be convinced that it's worthwhile working so hard, that you're going to get somewhere. And that takes a certain kind of fooling yourself." (p.59)
"When asked if it would be wise to work on something that everyone else thinks is nonsense, Feynman simply says, "only under one condition (...) that you don't think it's nonsense." Continuing, he says, "Maybe you just don't know enough, or haven't known it long enough, to be spoiled by what you know. Too much education can cause trouble." (p.78)
"(...) Whatever you choose to work on, be your own worst critic. And don't do it for the wrong reasons. Don't do it unless you really believe. Because if it doesn't work out, you could end up wasting a lot of time." (p.94)
And the following dialogue when the topic shifted to rainbows:
‘Do you know who first explained the true origin of the rainbow?’ I asked.
‘It was Descartes,’ he said. After a moment he looked me in the eye.
‘And what do you think was the salient feature of the rainbow that inspired Descartes’ mathematical analysis?’ he asked.
‘Well, the rainbow is actually a section of a cone that appears as an arc of the colors of the spectrum when drops of water are illuminated by sunlight behind the observer.’
‘And?’
‘I suppose his inspiration was the realization that the problem could be analyzed by considering a single drop, and the geometry of the situation.’
‘You’re overlooking a key feature of the phenomenon,’ he said.
‘Okay, I give up. What would you say inspired his theory?’
‘I would say his inspiration was that he thought rainbows were beautiful.’
I especially loved the latter part of the book when, as Feynman was nearing his death due to his sickness, he would talk about his family, how he would regret not seeing his daughter grow up (though he did see her reach adulthood), how he shared that he loved his wife Arlene but that he didn't grew resentful even after her death and just accepted that there are things beyond our control (something I am trying hard to learn). I love reading about the humane side of big people, they inspire all the more when we can see their struggles. Another thing I loved about the man is how generous he had been, as he shared bits of wisdom to enlighten a lost man.
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To J whoever he/she is, thank you for giving me this book. I don't know what's on your mind when you picked it for me but whatever it is, thank you for thinking of me.
