A Fine Man Indeed

A funny thing happened in Sharath Sir's class this week. I think I'm one of two people sitting in that class who found it funny. It went like this- He was showing us these slides he'd made as an introduction to Atomic Physics. He chose to quote Feynman, who, in his Lectures said, famously, 'everything is made of atoms'. Sharath Sir repeated that, and then said, quite seriously, "I hope you all know who Feynman is. If you don't...get out of my class and don't come back..". I think the threat was quite real. But nevertheless, funny. You can't talk physics without bumping into Feynman.

My first encounter was a happy accident. I was in a book store, sometime in 8th standard when I came across 'Surely, you're joking Mr. Feynman'. And then my dad came around and told me I had to read it. This, from a doctor who hasn't "studied" physics since he was in Class 12. And yes, after reading it, I almost decided to hang around book stores, grab random people, and ask them to read it too! But I wasn't that insane(yet!).

What is it about Richard P. Feynman that brings out such reactions in us? To use a cliche, like him or hate him(Oh yes, there are those too), you just cannot ignore him. I thought about this for a long time. It is finally becoming clear to me. Feynman, to me, represented what I wasn't, but wished I could be. A free thinker, a free learner, and a free liver(as in life, not the organ, just clarifying).

Much has been said about his 'zest for life', his 'unique style of teaching physics', etc etc that I don't think I'll be able to say anything that hasn't been said before. Feynman for me, personally, embodies the complete man(not Raymond, whoever that is). Aristotle(see footnote) said "The whole is greater than the sum of the parts", and Feynman, you see, is greater than the infinitely many tales about him. He was one of the most outstanding physicists of the 20th century. Leonard Mlodinow says, in Feynman's Rainbow, "..there indeed was no problem in the world of physics into which he couldn't provide the greatest insight..". But he was equally well-known later, for his fun-loving nature, his various eccentricities and the like, having completely smashed away the notion of a scientist being a boring creature that can be found in labs, working on experiments with fuming liquids, or buried neck-deep in huge books, and the only thing more boring than the work was the person doing it. Feynman made science relevant. He made it fun! I actually have much more to say on this matter but will take mercy on the hapless readers(if any), and edge nearer towards an ending. But not just yet.

Feynman probably wasn't born that way, but everything that went on inside his head, and outside, made him who he turned out to be. He didn't have any grand plans for himself, and he certainly never had any grand plans for humanity. He touched millions of lives without even knowing it, by simply having the courage to be himself. Everything else that followed was a consequence of that. And that is the biggest lesson I learned from him. I try everyday to be a little more like Feynman. I try everyday to be a little more like me.

Harshini




P.S. This is the aforementioned footnote. I googled the quote to see who had said it first and found that it was Aristotle. Alongside that, I saw this, and found it interesting: Kurt Koffka: "It has been said: The whole is more than the sum of its parts. It is more correct to say that the whole is something else than the sum of its parts, because summing up is a meaningless procedure, whereas the whole-part relationship is meaningful." (Kurt Koffka, 1935: New York: Harcourt-Brace. p 176). Incidentally, Aristotle meant the same thing too. Whoever interpreted it otherwise, goofed up.