Book Review: What Do You Care What Other People Think?

ByGeorges Lteif

I. About this Book

Title

What Do You Care What Other People Think? Further Adventures of a Curious Character

Author

Richard D. Feynman

First Published

1988

Edition

First

Pages

256

II. Who Should Read “What Do You Care What Other People Think?”

“What Do You Care What Other People Think? Further Adventures of a Curious Character” is a highly entertaining and insightful collection of personal stories recounted by Nobel Laureate and professor Richard Feynman on various occasions and collected by Ralph Leighton in this short book.

The book is a fun read and will give the enthusiastic reader a glimpse into the heart and mind of one of the most influential theoretical physicists of the 20th century.

III. “What Do You Care What Other People Think?” Synopsis

The book is divided into two parts, each consisting of several chapters.

  • Part 1: A Curious Character
  • Part 1 consists of several recollections of Feynman’s childhood and youth, mostly around his father’s influence on his love of science, the tragic story of his first love, and various other adventures during his college years.
  • I found one of the stories in Part 1, where Feynman tries to understand the mind’s conception of the passage of time, particularly engaging. It showed how logical reasoning, coupled with practical experimentation and genuine curiosity, can lead to brilliant discoveries.
  • Chapter 2: Mr Feynman Goes to Washington: Investigating the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
  • In the second half of this book, Feynman retells the story of his role in the presidential commission investigating the disaster that befell the space shuttle Challenger.
  • The chapters are organized chronologically and describe Feynman’s acceptance of the job, his role and experience with the commission, and a personal report on the investigations’ findings.
  • This series of chapters introduces Feynman, the scientist, to the world of business management, big corporations, and institutions like NASA. Most surprising to me was the (almost parallel) resemblance between the past challenges that large organisations faced and those faced by modern IT and software organizations.

Central Themes of “Feynman Lectures on Computation”

  • Richard Feynman
  • NASA
  • Space missions
  • Science
  • The Challenger disaster
  • Crash investigation

IV. What I Liked About “What Do You Care What Other People Think?”

  • Original Content
  • Feynman was not only a great physicist but also a talented educator and a fascinating character. Many books have been written on how great people think and what shapes their character and worldview. I find the best way into people’s minds is through the stories they tell about themselves, which is precisely what this book is about.
  • Writing Style
  • Feynman’s unique method of distilling complex information makes it accessible to almost anybody. While the first half of the book focused on easily accessible, non-technical stories from Feynman’s life, the second half covered the space shuttle’s design, engineering, technology, operation, and management. I was pleasantly surprised when I completed the book almost effortlessly, with minimal knowledge of space engineering.
  • Humour and humility are two other characteristics of Feynman’s story-telling style, seeding the reader’s interest in his brilliant and unique character.
  • Accessibility
  • The book is highly accessible to anybody with (very) basic knowledge of physics and engineering.
  • Conciseness
  • At 256 pages, the book manages a perfect balance between conciseness and depth.
  • Depth
  • The personal stories included in this volume, along with the space shuttle investigation as recounted by Feynman himself, offer a unique vantage point for understanding Feynman’s character and worldview.
  • Feynman is not satisfied with shallow explanations of events or physical phenomena; the depth at which he analyses those events constitutes a perfect balance between conciseness and precision.

V. What Could Have Been Better in “What Do You Care What Other People Think?”

This book leaves nothing to complain about, either in structure or content. It is highly recommended.

VI. Other Books by Richard Feynman

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