Many appreciate Richard P. Feynman’s contributions totwentieth-century physics, but few realize how engaged he was withthe world around him—how deeply and thoughtfully he considered thereligious, political, and social issues of his day. Now, awonderful book—based on a previously unpublished, three-part publiclecture he gave at the University of Washington in 1963—shows usthis other side of Feynman, as he expounds on the inherent conflictbetween science and religion, people’s distrust of politicians, andour universal fascination with flying saucers, faith healing, andmental telepathy. Here we see Feynman in top form: nearly burstinginto a Navajo war chant, then pressing for an overhaul of theEnglish language (if you want to know why Johnny can’t read, justlook at the spelling of “friend”); and, finally, ruminating on thedeath of his first wife from tuberculosis. This is quintessentialFeynman—reflective, amusing, and ever enlightening.
A brilliant account of the life of one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century. Popper also explains some of the central ideas in his work, making this ideal reading for anyone coming to his life and work for the first time.
Conceived originally as a serious presentatin of thedevelopment of philosophy for Catholic seminary students, FrederickCopleston's nine-volume A History Of Philosophy has journeyedfar beyond the modest purpose of its author to universal acclaim asthe best history of philosophy in English. Copleston, an Oxford Jesuit of immense erudition who once tangledwith A.J. Ayer in a fabled debate about the existence of God andthe possibility of metaphysics, knew that seminary students werefed a woefully inadequate diet of theses and proofs, and that theirfamiliarity with most of history's great thinkers was reducedto simplistic caricatures. Copleston set out to redress thewrong by writing a complete history of Western Philosophy, onecrackling with incident an intellectual excitement - and one thatgives full place to each thinker, presenting his thought in abeautifully rounded manner and showing his links to those who wentbefore and to those who came after him.
