Physicist Richard P. Feynman's famous lectures online

Bill Gates became hooked on the work of Nobel physicist Richard P. Feynman 20 years ago and wanted to bring his work to a wider audience. Now you can watch the lectures given by Feynman, the bongo-playing-artist- physicist online for free.

The seven lectures that the much-hailed Nobel Prize physicist Richard P. Feynman gave at Cornell University in 1964 are now available online at Microsoft Research. Microsoft founder Bill Gates is among the legions of Feynman admirers. In his introduction to Project Tuva, Gates says he saw the lectures 20 years ago and thought, “Everybody ought to see these because they make science interesting.” (Tuva is a reference to Feynman’s long-time fascination with Tannu Tuva, a small isolated region between Mongolia and Siberia.) The lectures were already 25 years old when Gates saw them, a testament to the engaging professor’s appeal and ability to inspire. Gates acquired the rights to the film footage of Feynman's lectures, then added interactive visualizations, a note-taking application, bibliographic references, web links, and commentaries by relevant experts. Gates said Feynman made science “magical,” and “fun, interesting and approachable.” Quotes from Richard Feynman:

“For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled.”

“Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it.”

“The real question of government versus private enterprise is argued on too philosophical and abstract a basis. Theoretically, planning may be good. But nobody has ever figured out the cause of government stupidity and until they do (and find the cure) all ideal plans will fall into quicksand.”

The theoretical physicist died from complications from cancer in 1988 at age 69. Feynman came into the public spotlight as a principle investigator into the Challenger shuttle disaster after he discovered the cause of the accident. At a press conference of the presidential commission into the Challenger disaster in February 1986, Feynman said:

“I took this stuff I got out of your [O-ring] seal and I put it in ice water, and I discovered that when you put some pressure on it for a while and then undo it, it doesn't stretch back. It stays the same dimension. In other words, for a few seconds at least, and more seconds than that, there is no resilience in this particular material when it is at a temperature of 32 degrees. I believe that has some significance for our problem.”

Feynman shared a 1965 Nobel Prize with Julian Schwinger and Shinichiro Tomonaga for his work on quantum electrodynamics. He invented many problem-solving tools, including the Feynman diagram. A gifted and witty communicator, he wrote many best-selling books of interest to scientists and non-scientists alike. Resources: Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman, 1985 memoir and collection of anecdotes What Do You Care What Other People Think? Memoir published after his death in 1988 Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman (1992) by James Gleick The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman, 1981 collection of articles and transcripts from talks and interviews “Last Journey of a Genius,” Nova documentary (Hat tip to the Smoking Chimp for posting the link to Project Tuva.)