The Pleasure of Finding Things Out

The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman

By: Richard P. Feynman

Narrated by: Sean Runnette

The Pleasure of Finding Things Out is a magnificent treasury of the best short works of Richard P. Feynman, from interviews and speeches to lectures and printed articles. A sweeping, wide-ranging collection, it presents an intimate and fascinating view of a life in science - a life like no other. From his ruminations on science in our culture to his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, this book will delight anyone interested in the world of ideas.

"From the irregular trivia of ordinary life mixed with a bit of scientific doodling and failure to the intense dramatic concentration as one closes in on the truth and the final elation (plus, with gradually decreasing frequency, the sudden sharp pangs of doubt) - that is how science is done." (Richard P. Feynman to James D. Watson)

©1999 Michelle Feynman and Carl Feynman (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The most original mind of his generation." (Freeman Dyson, renowned theoretical physicist and mathematician)

"A sparkling collection." ( Wall Street Journal)

"Feynman’s distinctive voice rings out in this book…Feynman is both interesting and quotable." ( Scientific American)

Great book

The voice is Magnificent and the book itself is pleasure put into words. I’m very happy I got to listen to this book.

Best guy ever!

Feynman is an incredibly inspiring person and listening to his own words gives you an idea of the kind of guy he was.

A primer for tuning a thinking mind

This is a magnificent overview and introduction to Richard Feynman, for those who want comfort in thinking differently, and at the same time became nurtured by a stringent and marvelous thinker and a scientist.

very down to earth and understandable

It gets slow once or twice.. keep listening.
How to be a better father, better scientist, better teacher.

You will have heard some of it already

There's a lot of overlap between the stories, so it feels unedited. Other than that, the usual fare for Feynman - funny and insightful. Lovely voice performance as well.

Quite good but some thoughts are a bit lazy

Feynman has an uncanny ability to speak accurately and relatable about high minded concepts. Where some of these readings lose me a bit is in their rantiness - notably, his endless complaining about the pseudoscience in non-physics fields, a weird bit about the female brain (although he ultimately concludes it's as capable as a man's brain, although this still come comes off a bit dismissive), and a boring commentary on the compatibility of religion and science. My complaint isn't so much on the accuracy of these sections as much as it's about the laziness of them. The sections presaging MEMS and the insights into his work on the manhattan project are fascinating, but these other sections just feel like the late night ramblings of a college freshman. I suppose such is the way of a brilliant mind - it's perhaps necessary to take some mental shortcuts when dealing with these kinds of matters, but I don't think these thoughts were worthy of speeches and interviews.

Making you think and Apriciate living

Feels like I am having a convesation with a Man that lived life and had a verry big impact on everyone's life with out us knowing it.

Fantastic

Superb performance and wonderful book. I had read another one and thoroughly enjoyed this one as well.

Delightful Character with lots of Insights

I found Dr Feynman very interesting and logical when it came to physics and some of the engineering analysis.

I also found his stories insightful, funny and quite entertaining.

One of the drawbacks that I found was that when he ventured outside of science he sounded a bit foolish. His interest in philosophy was fleeting and superficial and it showed.

One of the pet peeves that I had was his view on religion and the supernatural. I do not mind doubt, but he never doubted evolution and accepted it as scientific dogma instead of doubting that faith and investigating the theory.

The american scientific hero

What made the experience of listening to The Pleasure of Finding Things Out the most enjoyable?

R Feynman is the role model for us. His understanding and his way of reducing the most completx of thoughts into cogent easy to understand concepts is amazing. May of the stories herein however, are well know and there are lots of duplications. Would have been nice to hear about tubo (icant remember the country name)

Would you recommend The Pleasure of Finding Things Out to your friends? Why or why not?

Yes ... if you are going to go into science, you must avail yourself of Feynman

What does Sean Runnette bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

i cant read vvery well -- so his naration is essential

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

The Manhattan project and the seminar in from of Dr. Einstein

Any additional comments?

i will do other Feynmans .. i tell my students to go out and enjoy his wit -- and drop the damn smart phones.