Rating: 5 out of 5
I am particularly happy I chose to take up this book as the first one to read this year as it has been a very good one (much as I expected). So it is as well that I have rated this so highly for a few reasons.
The first of this concerns the Challenger disaster that took place more than three decades ago now and which is probably not remembered by many today. Yet, it is still relevant and Prof Feynman’s attempts in uncovering the truth are noteworthy as are the (mostly bureaucratic) obstructions thrown at him. The first part of the book, however less relevant in the above sense, yet demonstrates the sense of vivacity that seems to have characterised all of Mr Feynman’s doings. These two taken together represent a very great bar to overcome: a constant search for truth but with the joyous attitude that so often seems to go missing in life.
Of the short stories in Part 1, I was most amused by ‘Who the Hell is Herman?’ that speaks of a situation I could easily imagine happening to most anyone. The other stories are either instructive (‘Feynman, sexist pig!’) or inspirational (‘What Do You Care What Other People Think?’) or just plain interesting (all of them).