The Character of Physical Law

Not to be confused with "The Feynman Lectures on Physics"
The Character of Physical Law

First edition
Author Richard Feynman
Country United States
Language English
Subject Physics
Genre Non-fiction
Published 1965 (BBC)
Pages 173 pp.
ISBN 0679601279
LC Class QC71 .F44
Website http://www.cornell.edu/video/playlist/richard-feynman-messenger-lectures

The Character of Physical Law is a series of seven lectures by physicist Richard Feynman concerning the nature of the laws of physics. The lectures were delivered by Feynman in 1964 at Cornell University, as part of the Messenger Lectures series. The BBC recorded the seven lectures and published a book by the same name in 1965.[1] Cornell University published the BBC's recordings on a Cornell website in September 2015.[2]

Topics

The lectures covered the following topics:

  1. The law of gravitation, an example of physical law
  2. The relation of mathematics and physics
  3. The great conservation principles
  4. Symmetry in physical law
  5. The distinction of past and future
  6. Probability and uncertainty - the quantum mechanical view of nature
  7. Seeking new laws

Reception

Critical reception has been positive.[3][4] The Physics Teacher gave a favorable review for The Character of Physical Law, writing that although the book was initially intended to supplement the BBC recordings of the lectures, it was "complete in itself and will appeal to a far wider audience" and recommended it to scientists and non-scientists.[5]

Selections

  1. "In general we look for a new law by the following process. First we guess it. ...", – Feynman 1965, p. 156

See also

References

  1. Feynman, Richard (1965). The Character of Physical Law. Modern Library. ISBN 0-679-60127-9.
  2. "Richard Feynman Messenger Lectures (1964) - CornellCast". CornellCast. Retrieved 2015-12-26.
  3. Narodny, Leo (1991). "Reviewed Work: The Character of Physical Law by Richard Feynman". Leonardo. 24 (4): 493. doi:10.2307/1575548. JSTOR 1575548.
  4. Michalos, Alex C. (June 1967). "Reviewed Work: The Character of Physical Law by Richard Feynman". Philosophy of Science. 34 (2): 194. doi:10.1086/288144. JSTOR 186108.
  5. Hutchisson, Elmer (1968). "BOOK AND FILM REVIEWS: The Character of Physical Law". The Physics Teacher. 6 (89): 89–90. Bibcode:1968PhTea...6...89F. doi:10.1119/1.2351260. Retrieved 29 June 2015.


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