Comments on: Who Got Feynman’s Office?

By: the guy by the door … » Blog Archive » Welcome back, Witten!

the guy by the door … » Blog Archive » Welcome back, Witten! — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 18:14:29 +0000

[...] Maybe it’s a good thing your were on a plane when I put this up. It’s been too long since then young Dr. Sean [Now Professor Sean and inheritor of Feyman’s desk]Â taught me how to calculate spin connections. Google(assumptions of GR) -> inconclusive {so far}, but I’m thinking EP is already in ST. Not that that’s a bad thing. The big problem with GR is that you can’t quantize it. If take the assumptions of GR except allow dimension to float then fix it due to quantum mechanics. It IS conservative relative to other approaches, but often in science, that’s a good thing.* [...]

By: Who got Feynman’s office? « Perfectly Reasonable Deviations

Who got Feynman’s office? « Perfectly Reasonable Deviations — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 11:49:16 +0000

[...] Back in summer 2005, when I was a visiting student at Caltech, I remember walking around campus while wondering in which building and office Feynman had worked during his 35+ years at Caltech. At first I thought his office was in the Norman Bridge Laboratory (where some friends of mine were working), but only later did I find out that Feynman’s office was at the Lauritsen building. Still, the mystery persisted: who got Feynman’s office? A few days ago I knew the answer! Sean Carroll wrote about it: who got Feynman’s office? According to Sean, Feynman’s office is now occupied by string theorist John Schwarz. A mystery has been solved! [...]

By: rod.

rod. — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 22:14:35 +0000

Sean,

Thanks for the info! I was a SURF student at Caltech in summer 2005, and I remember walking around campus wondering in which office Feynman had worked. At first I thought his office was in the Norman Bridge Lab, they I found it was at Lauritsen, but I didn’t know the exact office until now. So, thanks for answering a question that was left unanswered for way too long!

And of course, have fun working at Feynman’s desk!

By: Suz

Suz — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 04:29:57 +0000

“The Feynman Lectures were the text for freshman physics at CalTech. ”

Um, it’s “Caltech.” Don’t ask why. Even though it’s an abstraction of “California Institute of Technology,” most Techers get annoyed if you spell it “CalTech” or “Cal Tech” or “ITT Tech” or “Cal Poly.”

Anyway, to Sean, I didn’t know you were there now! Have fun; I have fond memories of the place and I liked that everyone there LIKES SCIENCE. Not like MIT, where people do it for the glory and stardom. Or maybe this is just a difference in an undergrad versus grad student lens.

By: Elliot

Elliot — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 00:29:42 +0000

The Feynman Lectures were the text for freshman physics at CalTech. One of the authors Robert Leighton, who wrote the companion problem book probably has not recieved enough credit for his contribution.

I’ve already told the story before about the night he tried to steal my date at an undergrad mixer.

Elliot

By: raj

raj — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 20:51:15 +0000

Jim Harrison on Sep 26th, 2006 at 12:33 pm

I’m interested in what physicists think of Feynman’s lectures. My impression is that the books never worked very well as textbooks, in part because, despite their rather modest math level, they attempted to convey the meaning of physical ideas, i.e. they were too ambitious.

This is true. The Feynman lecture books would have worked well as texts for instruction in advanced physics, but not for introductory instruction. Start with Halliday & Resnick (which I did in the late 1960s) and then continue with the Feynman books (which I also did) for advanced students.

That said, it should be appreciated that the most interesting PBS Nova program ever broadcast was the one with Feynman. They edited out all of the questions from the interviewer and just had his responses. What was interesting is that Feynman’s responses made physics seem so easy. Which, quite frankly, it is–it is the physicists and (especially) the mathematicians that make physics seem so difficult.

By: Uncle Enzo

Uncle Enzo — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 15:42:44 +0000

Just sell the desk on ebay and give the money to the poor and use some of it to buy a desk of your own. I’m sure there are lots of Feynman fanatics (as these comments have shown) who are willing to pay big bucks for the desk. That’ll allow you to focus more on physics and you won’t ever be distracted with the thought, “Wow. I’m doing physics on the same desk that Feynman used.” and it’s a good deed too.

By: Eugene

Eugene — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 04:39:03 +0000

That’s really awesome.

By: Paul Valletta

Paul Valletta — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 21:21:16 +0000

Sean, how about digging up a photo of feynman sitting at his desk for verification?..not doubting you claim, but I m sure “youre not joking” about Mr Feynman’s desk Mr Carrol!

Really it would be cool?..although your mile wide grin says a lot

By: Amara

Amara — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 14:43:01 +0000

The bongos- maybe with his children: Carl or Michelle or with his friend Ralph Leighton ?