title: Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by: Feynman, Richard published: 1986 read: 2024-07 preview

This is the second time I read this; the first time I was doing my master’s, and Feynman was a hero.

Of course, he still is, of sorts; not everyone gets a Nobel prize. And at the same time, I found the book a bit pretentious. Yes, one of the main physics scientists in the world. But must he excel at everything? Drawing, making music, getting girls, and writing? Surely you’re joking.

But now, rereading the book and having lived through half of the things (I’m boasting now!) that Feynman did, I have a bit more sympathy for the stories. Sure it’s still exaggerated, probably. But also, much of it can be true. The life of a university scientist comes over truthfully – but of course I don’t quite know the US version of it.

Seen from the positive side: it’s an entertaining chain of stories of someone who tries to excel at everything he does. And for that, worth reading and may be inspiring to some.

For me, I like Feynman’s Lectures on Physics more.