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David Goodstein
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Feynman's Lost Lecture: The Motion of Planets Around the Sun Pap/Com Edition, Kindle Edition

by David Goodstein (Author), Judith R. Goodstein (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 187 ratings
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"Glorious."—Wall Street Journal


Rescued from obscurity, Feynman's Lost Lecture is a blessing for all Feynman followers. Most know Richard Feynman for the hilarious anecdotes and exploits in his best-selling books "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" and "What Do You Care What Other People Think?" But not always obvious in those stories was his brilliance as a pure scientist—one of the century's greatest physicists. With this book and CD, we hear the voice of the great Feynman in all his ingenuity, insight, and acumen for argument. This breathtaking lecture—"The Motion of the Planets Around the Sun"—uses nothing more advanced than high-school geometry to explain why the planets orbit the sun elliptically rather than in perfect circles, and conclusively demonstrates the astonishing fact that has mystified and intrigued thinkers since Newton: Nature obeys mathematics. David and Judith Goodstein give us a beautifully written short memoir of life with Feynman, provide meticulous commentary on the lecture itself, and relate the exciting story of their effort to chase down one of Feynman's most original and scintillating lectures.
Previous page
  1. ISBN-13
    978-0393319958
  2. Edition
    Pap/Com
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    W. W. Norton & Company
  5. Publication date
    November 6, 2009
  6. Language
    English
  7. File size
    2689 KB
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Richard Feynman, the rock star of theoretical physics, has left an image that belies his nerdy side. Not many bongo-playing surfer beatniks would have spent hours of their spare time proving Newton's law of elliptical planetary motion using only plane geometry. But Feynman's Lost Lecture: The Motion of Planets Around the Sun shows that the great man did just that. Originally delivered to an introductory physics class at Caltech in 1963, this 76-minute CD and book set contains everything the math-savvy listener needs to savor the pleasures of applied math. Caltech physicist David L. Goodstein and archivist Judith R. Goodstein found the notes and tape amid another professor's papers and set to work making sense of them; unfortunately, photographs of the blackboard drawings didn't survive. The book briefly covers their find and recovery work, then presents the proof as reconstructed--crucial reading if one is to follow the lecture. There's nothing easy about it, as Feynman acknowledges in the lecture: I am going to give what I will call an elementary demonstration. "Elementary" means that very little is required to know ahead of time in order to understand it, except to have an infinite amount of intelligence. He means, instead, that he is strictly using geometrical methods to reach his destination, which explains why it was so difficult to reconstruct without his diagrams. His charming Brooklyn accent and good humor show through in this lecture, even if the material is quite a bit drier than his fans might expect. Still, those interested in adding a new dimension to their understanding of this brilliant scientist--and those with a deep interest in Newtonian physics--will find The Motion of Planets Around the Sun a rare and unexpected treat. --Rob Lightner

From Publishers Weekly

Isaac Newton, in his Principia Mathematica (1687), proved Johannes Kepler's law explaining why planets travel in elliptical orbits around the Sun. In 1964, theoretical physicist Richard Feynman, the bestselling author and Nobel Prize winner, set forth his own proof of Kepler's law, using only plane geometry. Feynman's difficult proof, presented in an introductory lecture to Caltech undergraduates, never made it into the classic multivolume Feynman Lectures on Physics, published between 1963 and 1965, but California Institute of Technology archivist Judith Goodstein unearthed the transcript of Feynman's 1964 lecture, published here along with explanatory commentary and historical background, plus 25 photographs and 150 diagrams. Caltech physics professor David Goodstein, Feynman's friend and colleague until the latter's death in 1988, provides a warm reminiscence and does a good job of explaining how quantum physics and relativity supplanted Newtonian science.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B002WQLN6U
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Pap/Com edition (November 6, 2009)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 6, 2009
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2689 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 214 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 187 ratings

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David Goodstein

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
187 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding explanation
Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2023
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This book describes in a beautiful and comprehensible way Kepler’s three laws of planetary motion, and how Newton (and later Feynman) demonstrated the proof geometrically. The authors expand the proofs even beyond Feynman’s presentation (who expanded on Newton’s approach) to fill in a few gaps. The result is that, essentially through an extended, step-by-step application of Euclidean principles, one can truly understand Newton’s universal law of gravitation as it applies to planetary motion. It is a fascinating and rewarding experience.

You will gain an insight into the approach Newton adopted in his Principia (wherein he used geometrical analyses because his calculus was novel, and he thought that novelty may cause readers to doubt his proofs), and similarly you will gain an insight into Feynman’s thought process (who could not follow Newton’s proof at certain points, so developed his own approach to extend Newton’s analysis).

As a bonus, the book includes some fascinating personal background about Feynman. Incidentally, you can find a remarkable and enjoyable summary of this argument on 3Blue1Brown’s YouTube channel (Feynman’s Lost Lecture); the visual summary and this book complement each other beautifully. Finally, you can hear Feynman’s lecture on YouTube as well. What a great and inspirational man he was!
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Mark Pfennigstag
5.0 out of 5 stars If you are a Feyman fan, you gotta have this.
Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2024
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You need to be a little bit of a math and astronomy geek to enjoy this. It you know who Richard Feynman is and know a little about his work at CalTech Pasadena, you'll love this. In addition to some rather satisfying math and astronomy, you'll get some insight into his personality and sense of humor.
The first two chapters relate some insights into his personality through anecdotes told by fellow professors and colleagues. Then comes the "lost" lecture in which he proves Kepler's theory of an elliptical orbit for Mars using simple high school level geometry - no mean task in itself. This is not some old dry and boring story about a math teacher. Feynman was not only brilliant, he was a prankster!
(Look for a copy that still has the Audio CD)
Tuva or Bust! Find out what it means.
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Audrey
5.0 out of 5 stars Immaculate condition and packaging
Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2023
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Great delivery timing and perfect condition of book . Beautiful
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jfizzix
4.0 out of 5 stars It was a fun read, It's really neat to think of how ...
Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2015
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It was a fun read, It's really neat to think of how to prove celestial mechanics using only geometry. Nowadays that seems like a handicap, but it was interesting to see just how Newton could have explained his research to those who knew no calculus.
2 people found this helpful
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orbitingeden
5.0 out of 5 stars I own two copies
Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2012
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This is an awesome explanation of Newton's proofs that were the foundation of modern math and physics. Every physics student can benefit from this kind of fundamental explanation of the universe. Though the concepts are complex and the author does an imperfect job of translating the lecture to book form the math is no more complex than high school geometry so that untrained laymen can follow it if they apply themselves.
3 people found this helpful
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AllenAnway
5.0 out of 5 stars Lost Lecture is restored and comes to life
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2014
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After years of detective work, Feynman's friends reconstruct his lecture on the motion of planets around the sun. Forgoing calculus, Feynman makes a geometrical argument starting with Newton's geometric proof. But he quickly diverges away from Newton to complete his original proof in his own enlightening manner. An impressive proof clearly written.
3 people found this helpful
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A. Consumer
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Lecture
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2019
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The book is based on notes for a lecture Feynman gave, more or less as a fun exercise, to explain and prove planetary motion. It's a fascinating read. His was an amazing mind.
One person found this helpful
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ROGER S TOBIE
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing derivation of one Kepler's laws on planetary orbits
Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2019
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Why do planets travel in ellipses around the sun? Study the explanation given in this lecture by Feynman and you will SEE why.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Dipanjan Hajra
5.0 out of 5 stars Nice
Reviewed in India on December 18, 2023
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Nice
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gigia
5.0 out of 5 stars Libro The motion of planets
Reviewed in Italy on September 24, 2023
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Bellissimo e interessante libro
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PK
5.0 out of 5 stars Great product!
Reviewed in Canada on July 8, 2019
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Genius!
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RAZVAN
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 25, 2020
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Joyful bit from Mr Feyman and Goldhsteins
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BioZorg84
5.0 out of 5 stars A lire
Reviewed in France on March 8, 2020
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Le livre est dans sa plus grosse partie une explication du dernier cours de Feynman. Les auteurs ont essayé - avec succès - de donner au lecteur tous les éléments de compréhension justement de ce dernier cours. On est proche de l'épistémologie bien l'ensemble soit de la physique avec des explications géométriques / mathématiques. A lire absolument.
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