Genius (88 page)

387 I
T IS OF COURSE A
Y
ANG
-M
ILLS THEORY
: Gell-Mann 1983a, 3.

387 B
Y THE WAY, SOME PEOPLE
: Ibid.

388 T
HE POINT WAS HARDLY LOST
: As Gell-Mann said at a memorial service for Feynman in 1989: “Everybody knows that Richard didn’t think one should be able to tell the difference between one bird and another…. He tried to show in yet another way that he could stand out from the herd—like not being a birdwatcher.” Talk at Feynman memorial, San Francisco, 18 January 1989.

388
SITS CALMLY BEHIND HIS DESK
: Riordan 1987, 192.

389 M
URRAY’S MASK WAS A MAN
: Coleman, interview.

390 Z
WEIG, FAR MORE VULNERABLE
: Zweig 1981.

390
THEIR PALPITANT PIPING, CHIRRUP
: Quoted in Crease and Mann 1986, 185.

391 T
HE CONCRETE QUARK MODEL
: Zweig, interview.

391 I
T IS FUN TO SPECULATE ABOUT THE WAY QUARKS
: Gell-Mann 1964.

391 I
ALWAYS CONSIDERED THAT TO BE A CODED MESSAGE
: Polkinghome 1989, 110.

391 F
OR
G
ELL
-M
ANN THIS BECAME
: “People have deliberately misunderstood this for twenty-seven years.” Gell-Mann, interview.

391 I’
VE ALWAYS TAKEN AN ATTITUDE
: F-W, II-26.

391 A
T FIRST HIS SYLLABUS CONTAINED
: Zweig, interview; F-W, II-15.

392 A S
INGLE BUBBLE CHAMBER
: Traweek 1988, 52–53.

392
LIKE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT A POCKET WATCH
: Quoted in Riordan 1987, 151–52.

392 T
HE PHYSICISTS WHO WOULD GATHER
: Riordan 1987, 149.

393 H
E ISOLATED A REMARKABLE REGULARITY
: Bjorken 1989, 57; Bjorken, telephone interview.

393 O
XFORD
E
NGLISH
D
ICTIONARY
: “Each of the hypothetical point-like constituents of the nucleon that were invoked by R. P. Feynman to explain the way the nucleon inelastically scatters electrons of very high energy.” A
Supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary, 279.

394
QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS HAD ITS PARTONS
: Feynman 1969b, 241.

394 H
E CHOSE NOT TO DECIDE
: Feynman to Michael Riordan, 26 February 1986, CIT.

394 W
HEN
F
EYNMAN DIAGRAMS ARRIVED
: Bjorken 1989, 56.

394 F
EYNMAN TOOK ON A PROJECT IN
1970: Feynman et al. 1971.

395
CONVERTED INTO A QUARKERIAN
: F-W, II-47.

395 A
QUARK PICTURE MAY ULTIMATELY PERVADE
: Feynman et al. 1971, 2727.

395
HE DISLIKED THE FANFARE
: “These things were quarks and antiquarks (and sometimes gluons), but he didn’t want to call them by their names. At first, he wasn’t sure that that’s what they were, but as time went on it became clearer, and it annoyed me that he still didn’t acknowledge that he was talking about quarks. Eventually, some authors began to speak of ‘quark partons,’ but as if they were somehow different from ordinary current quarks.
   “The so-called parton model was an approximate description of quarks and gluons that could apply in the appropriate high-energy limits if the interaction of the particles became weak at short distances (as turned out to be the case in quantum chromodynamics). Dick painted a naïve picture, which was taken not just as an approximation to an unknown theory, but as a kind of revealed truth.
   “Physicists all over the world learned the ‘parton’ story, memorized it, and immediately began to use it to interpret experiments. In other words Dick has oversimplified the picture so that it could be used by everybody.” Gell-Mann, personal communication.

395 W
E HAVE BUILT A VERY TALL HOUSE OF CARDS
: Feynman 1972c.

395 I’
M A LITTLE BIT FRUSTRATED
: F-W, II-86.

396
QUIETLY NOMINATED
G
ELL
-M
ANN AND
Z
WEIG
: They never knew it. B. Wagel to Feynman, 26 January 1977, CIT. Gell-Mann, Zweig, interviews.

396 J
EE-JEE-JEE-JU-JU
. J
EE-JEE-JEE-JU-JU
: F-L.

396 I
T TOOK YEARS FOR
F
EYNMAN’S CHILDREN
: Michelle Feynman, Carl Feynman, Gweneth Feynman, interviews.

397 R
ICHARD
, I’
M COLD
: Leighton, interview.

397 I
COULD HAVE KILLED HIM
: Feynman to Sheila Sorenson, 21 October 1974, CIT. 397
TRUMPET PLAYING—SOCIAL WORKER—ZYGOPHALATELIST
: Feynman to Carl Feynman, 18 February 1980, PERS.

397
AFTER MUCH EFFORT AT UNDERSTANDING
: Ibid.

398 W
HAT MAKES IT MOVE
: Feynman 1966a.

398 T
O TELL A FIRST-GRADER
: Ibid., 14.

398 Y
OU SAY
, “W
ITHOUT USING"
: Ibid., 15.

398 S
HOE LEATHER WEARS OUT
: Ibid., 16.

398 F
EYNMAN TAUGHT THIRTY-FOUR
: D. Goodstein 1989, 73.

399 I
COULDN’T REDUCE IT
: Ibid. 75.

399 I
T IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE USE OF WORDS
: Feynman 1964a, 16.

400 I
DOUBT THAT ANY CHILD
: Ibid., 3.

401 M
ICHELLE LEARNED THAT HE HAD A THOUSAND
: Michelle Feynman, interview.

401 O
H YES, WE DO
: Gweneth Feynman, interview.

401 T
RAVELING IN THE
S
WISS ALPS
: Gweneth Feynman, interview.

402 F
EYNMAN’S TUMOR
: C. M. Haskell, interview, Los Angeles.

402 F
IVE-YEAR SURVIVAL RATES
: Sheldon C. Binder, Bertram Katz, and Barry Sheridan, “Retroperitoneal Liposarcoma,”
Annals of Surgery,
March 1978, 260.

402 Y
OU ARE OLD
, F
ATHER
F
EYNMAN
: “Father Feynman,” n.d., CIT.

402 W
ITH A POSTDOCTORAL STUDENT
: Feynman et al. 1977; Field and Feynman 1977; Field and Feynman 1978.

403 F
EYNMAN DID NOT REALIZE THAT
F
IELD
: Richard Field, telephone interview.

403 I
DON’T GET ANY PHYSICS
: Victor F. Weisskopf to Feynman, 23 March 1979, CIT.

403 QCD
FIELD THEORY WITH SIX FLAVORS
: “Qualitative Behavior,” typescript for Feynman 1981, CIT.

404
VASCULAR INCIDENT
: In Chang Kim, interview, Pasadena.

404 F
EYNMAN NEEDED SEVENTY-EIGHT PINTS
: Haskell, interview. Gweneth Feynman, interview.

404 I
T’S IMPOSSIBLE TO TALK
: Cvitanović, interview.

404 M
Y WIFE
: Douglas R. Hofstadter, telephone interview.

405 I
HAVE NOT ACCOMPLISHED ANYTHING
: Feynman to Robert B. Leighton, 10 June 1974, CIT.

405 W
HAT THE HELL IS FEYNMAN INVITED FOR
: Feynman to Sidney Coleman, 13 August 1976, CIT.

405
ANOTHER PIECE OF EVIDENCE
: Coleman to Feynman, 26 July 1976, CIT.

405
AGGRESSIVE DOPINESS
: Carl Feynman, interview.

406 H
E LISTENED PATIENTLY AS
B
ABA
R
AM
D
AS
: SYJ, 303–5.

406
PEOPLE IN HIGHER ECHELONS
: He titled the talk, “Los Alamos from Below.” Feynman 1975, 105.

406 S
TILL, HE WOULD EMERGE
: SYJ, 306.

406 S
PORADICALLY, HE WORKED
: E.g., Jon N. Leonard to Feynman, 3 November 1987, and Peter H. Hambling to Feynman, 4 August 1987, CIT.

407 A
RE WE PHYSICS GIANTS
: Feynman to Philip Morrison, 23 May 1972, CIT. 407
MYSTICISM, EXPANDED CONSCIOUSNESS
: SYJ, 309.

407 I
T HAS TO DO WITH THE QUESTION
: Videotape, courtesy of Ralph Leighton.

407
PEACE OF MIND AND ENJOYMENT
: Quoted in Leighton 1991, 83–84.

408 I
T SEEMED TO GWENETH
: Gweneth Feynman, interview; William G. Bradley, interview.

408 B
UT YOU CAN’T SEE
: Feynman to William G. Bradley, 13 July 1984, CIT.

409 O
KAY, START YOUR WATCH
: Weiner, interview.

409
A RECORD OF THE DAY-TO-DAY WORK
: F-W, II-4.

410 T
ODAY
I
WENT OVER TO THE
H
UNTINGTON
: F-L.

410 A
ND THE NEXT MORNING, ALL RIGHT
: Ibid.

411 “L
ISTEN
,” I
SAID TO THE DISPATCHER
: SYJ, 236.

411
A NICE
B
ROOKLYN RING
: Edwin Barber to Feynman, 2 March 1984, CIT.

411 G
ELL
-M
ANN’S RAGE COULD BE HEARD
: E.g., Tuck, interview.

411 O
F COURSE IT WASN’T TRUE
: SYJ, 229. He also changed “Murray Gell-Mann and I wrote a paper on the theory” to “Murray Gell-Mann compared and combined our ideas and wrote a paper on the theory” (232). Gell-Mann still called it “that joke book.” He knew that Feynman had not deliberately tried to take undeserved credit, but he was hurt nonetheless. “He was not at all a thief of ideas—even very generous in some ways,” Gell-Mann said. “It’s just that he was not always capable of regarding other people as really existing.”

411
A NIFTY BLONDE
: SYJ, 241 and 168.

412
OUT WITH HIS GIRL FRIEND
:
Lectures,
I-3–7.

412 D
EAR
R
OTHSTEIN
: D
ON’T BUG ME
: “Protest,” mimeograph sheet, CIT.

412
HE HAD SPENT MANY PLEASANT HOURS
: Jenijoy La Belle, interview, Pasadena; “Feynman Commends La Belle,” letter to
California Tech,
5 March 1976; La Belle 1989.

413 A
ND, LIKE FALLING IN LOVE
: NL, 435.

413 S
O WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OLD THEORY
: NL, 456.

413 T
HERE IS IN THE WORLD OF PHYSICS
: Feynman 1972e, 1.

414 G
ENERALLY
M
R.
F
EYNMAN IS NOT JOKING
: Morrison 1985, 43.

414 N
OT
A
N
A
UTOBIOGRAPHY
: Feynman to Robert Crease, 18 September 1985, CIT. And Feynman to Klaus Stadler, 15 October 1985, CIT: “This shows a complete misunderstanding of the nature of my book…. It is not in any way a scientific book, nor a serious one. It is not even an autobiography. It is only a series of short disconnected anecdotes, meant for the general reader which, we hope, the reader will find
amusing.”

414 W
HAT
I
REALLY WAS
: Feynman to Crease.

414 A
HALF-HOUR AFTER THE LAUNCH
: Richard Witkin, “Canaveral Hopes for Success Fade,” New
York Times,
6 March 1958, 1.

414 T
HEY USED A ROOM-SIZE
: Hibbs, interview.

416
AN OUTSIDE GROUP OF EXPERTS
: “Reagan names panel on shuttle explosion,” Walter V. Robinson,
Washington
Post
, 4 February 1986, 1.

417 A
RMSTRONG SAID ON THE DAY
: “President Names 12-Member Panel in Shuttle Inquiry,” Gerald Boyd,
New York Times,
4 February 1986, 1.

417 W
E ARE NOT GOING TO CONDUCT
: Ibid. In the commission’s first closed session, on February 10, he emphasized: “This is not an adversarial procedure. This commission is not in any way adversarial …”
Report,
IV, 244.

417 Y
OU’RE RUINING MY LIFE
: William R. Graham, telephone interview.

417 F
EYNMAN WAS NOW SUFFERING
: Haskell, interview.

417 F
EYNMAN HIMSELF REFUSED TO CONSIDER
: Haskell, interview.

417 H
E IMMEDIATELY ARRANGED A BRIEFING
: Hibbs, interview; Charles Lifer, interview; Winston Gin, interview; WDY, 119–21.

419 R
OGERS OPENED THE FIRST
: Report, IV, 1.

419 I
N RESPONSE
, M
OORE DENIED
: Ibid., 21.

419
A CONCERN BY
T
HIOKOL
: Ibid., 97.

419 N
EWSPAPER REPORTS THE NEXT DAY
: Esp. David Sanger, “NASA Seems Surprised By Aggressive Queries,” New
York Times,
7 February 1986, A19.

419 T
HIS IS WHAT WE WOULD HAVE CALLED
:
Report,
IV, 220.

419 E
VERYTHING THAT
I
KNOW
: Ibid., 221.

420 W
HEN WE ASK QUESTIONS
: Ibid., 222.

420 Y
OU SAID WE DON’T EXPECT IT
: Ibid., 224.

420 C
O-PILOT TO PILOT
: Donald J. Kutyna, interview, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo.; WDY, 126.

420 I
HAVE A PICTURE OF THAT SEAL
:
Report,
IV, 224.

421 T
HE LACK OF A GOOD SECONDARY SEAL
: “August 19, 1985 Headquarters Briefing,” Report, I, 139; WDY, 135.

421
LOSS OF VEHICLE, MISSION, AND CREW
: “NASA Had Warning of a Disaster Risk Posed by Booster,” Philip Boffey, New
York Times,
9 February 1986, 1.

422
YOU KNOW, THOSE THINGS LEAK
:
WDY,
139–40; Kutyna, interview. Feynman misremembered this as a telephone conversation.

422 I
THINK IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING
:
Report,
IV, 244.

422 L
AWRENCE
M
ULLOY, PROJECT MANAGER
: Ibid., 291.