Feynman - QED (a must read on physics)

[noigmn]

I don´t read very often, so me recommending a book is pretty unusual. I´m an ENFP, so me telling people to read about Physics is even more unusual. There is one comforting thing though. You can feel safe knowing that if I believed this recommendation would scar you for life, my value system would not let me do it.

Firstly this is for people interested in Physics. And I have recommended it, because in just over 100 pages of light reading, I now understand the fundamentals of Quantum Electrodynamics (QED), and what the LHC and standard model is all about. And in a way this book seems like something that should be a must before even commenting or being skeptical about people´s searches for crazy particles.

Richard Feynman was one of the most significant Physicists of the 20th century, and QED is one of the most significant theories of the 20th century. As he put it in the book, most of us are still back arguing the physics of the 1920s. We learn it in school. We are trained in the mistakes of it. And I think most people escape it to arguing relativity, quantum mechanics, etc. There are philosophy classes and physics students playing with issues that were gone before the 50s. And there´s this great mysticism and media mess that obscures things that are actually quite simple. In fact after reading the book, QED seems far more intuitive and simple and obvious than the things we learn in school. The results of it can get crazily complicated, but I love the way Feynman sees the world.

The book is quite an easy read for physics students/enthusiasts, NTs, and at a lesser level for the layman. It was actually aimed at the layman. And I´m guessing will give the same insight to the layman, without maybe the same wow connections in understanding.

Thanks for reading

[Fluffywolf]

This subject actually has been on my 'to-read-up-on...sometime' list for quite a while. Now with you pointing out a book that is very explanatory into it all, I feel I can't delay much longer.

I'll move it to my 'to-read-on-short(ish)-notice' list.

[JocktheMotie]

Have you read Elegant Universe by Brian Greene? I had read that right before picking up QED and got through the first lecture and part of the second before it felt like a review instead of being something new. I may have to pick it up again.

[ygolo]

I read this one a long time ago, noigmn. Feynmann is usually an easy read, even for the hardest subject. He is well suited for writing about QED being on of its co-discoverers.

You've inspired me to give it a second read.

[entropie]

Originally Posted by ygolo

Feynmann is usually an easy read, even for the hardest subject.

I only read books when I am on the toilet and I have to say I lost track of whats going on after page 30.

I definitly need to start with book 1 instead of book 3

[nozflubber]

Today in my anct. philosophy class, our ENTP instructor referred to Feynman is "our lord and savior" for one reason: due to the nature of QM, people were actually considering throwing out the Law of Contradiction, because it was becoming common to think of the atom as being "a particle and also something that is not a particle" - problem of dual natures. Apparently, Feynman is supposed to have cleared up this business long ago, and he said a lot of physics these days is argued pre-Feynman. Will have to check him out

[FDG]

Yes, it's an awesome book. I also reccommed Feynman lectures of physics, even if you have just an hobbish interest in physics. His explanations are extremely clear and simple (even if the subject is very complex).