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Bantam Books by Richard P. Feynman

“SURELY YOU'RE JOKING, MR. FEYNMAN!”

“WHAT DO YOU CARE WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK?”

“What Do You Care
What Other People Think?”

FURTHER ADVENTURES OF A
CURIOUS CHARACTER

Richard P. Feynman

as told to Ralph Leighton

BANTAM BOOKS
NEW YORK • TORONTO • LONDON • SYDNEY • AUCKLAND

UNANIMOUS PRAISE FOR THIS
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

“EXCEPTIONAL”

— Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Brings Feynman to life in all his wonderful and multiple dimensions. Marvelous”

— Kirkus Reviews

“[Feynman's] tenacious intelligence, contagious enthusiasm, humor, and offbeat style are moving. ... There is nothing obtuse or difficult about [this] book. Indeed, Feynman's rendering of such a potentially complex subject as the Challenger disaster is straightforward, lucid, and accessible.”

— San Francisco Chronicle

“A gentler book [than “Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!”], and for those interested in the man, a more substantial one.”

— Los Angeles Times

This edition contains the complete text
of the original hardcover edition.

NOT ONE WORD HAS BEEN OMITTED.

“WHAT DO YOU CARE WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK?”
A Bantam Book / published by arrangement with
W. W. Norton &. Company, Inc.
PRINTING HISTORY
W. W. Norton edition published October 1988
Bantam Export edition/ November 1989
Bantam New Age and the accompanying figure design as well as
the statement “the search for meaning, growth, and change”
are trademarks of Bantam Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday
Dell Publishing Group, Inc.

All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2988 by Gweneth Feynman and Ralph Leighton.
Cover photo copyright © 1989 by Faustin Bray.
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in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or by any information
storage and retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publisher.
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ISBN 0-553-17334-0

Published simultaneously in the United States and Canada

Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words “Bantam Books” and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10103.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Contents

Preface

Because of the appearance of “Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!” a few things need to be explained here.

First, although the central character in this book is the same as before, the “adventures of a curious character” here are different: some are light and some tragic, but most of the time Mr. Feynman is surely not joking — although it's often hard to tell.

Second, the stories in this book fit together more loosely than those in “Surely You're Joking...,” where they were arranged chronologically to give a semblance of order. (That resulted in some readers getting the mistaken idea that SYJ is an autobiography.) My motivation is simple: ever since hearing my first Feynman stories, I have had the powerful desire to share them with others.

Finally, most of these stories were not told at drumming sessions, as before. I will elaborate on this in the brief outline that follows.

Part 1, “A Curious Character,” begins by describing the influence of those who most shaped Feynman's personality — his father, Mel, and his first love, Arlene. The first story was adapted from “The Pleasure of Finding Things Out,” a BBC program produced by Christopher Sykes. The story of Arlene, from which the title of this book was taken, was painful for Feynman to recount. It was assembled over the past ten years out of pieces from six different stories. When it was finally complete, Feynman was especially fond of this story, and happy to share it with others.

The other Feynman stories in Part 1, although generally lighter in tone, are included here because there won't be a second volume of SYJ. Feynman was particularly proud of “It's as Simple as One, Two, Three,” which he occasionally thought of writing up as a psychology paper. The letters in the last chapter of Part 1 have been provided courtesy of Gweneth Feynman, Freeman Dyson, and Henry Bethe.

Part 2, “Mr. Feynman Goes to Washington,” is, unfortunately, Feynman's last big adventure. The story is particularly long  {viii}  because its content is still timely. (Shorter versions have appeared in Engineering and Science and Physics Today.) It was not published sooner because Feynman underwent his third and fourth major surgeries — plus radiation, hyperthermia, and other treatments — since serving on the Rogers Commission.

Feynman's decade-long battle against cancer ended on February 15, 1988, two weeks after he taught his last class at Caltech. I decided to include one of his most eloquent and inspirational speeches, “The Value of Science,” as an epilogue.

Ralph Leighton
March 1988

INDEX

acceleration safety cutoff system,

      flaws in, 172

Accident Analysis group, 131

accident investigation, technique for, 89–90

Acheson, David C, 88, 91, 131, 144, 149, 150

Acropolis, 69

actuators, computer systems, reliability, 177

adolescent years, 9–19

age of reason, 188

Air and Space Museum, National, 95, 98

Ajzenberg, Fay, 51

Aldrich, Arnold D., 87

Alvarez, Luis, 105

American Association of Physics Teachers, 50–52

Apollo accident, 147

archeology, Greek, 68–70

Armstrong, Neil, 85, 87, 88, 90, 108, 143–144, 148

assembly crews

      management view of, 124–125

      workers’ views of job, 125–128

Atlas, 64

Atoms for Peace Conference, 44, 46

augmented spark igniter (ASI),

      flaws in, 171

Augsberry, Dr. (high school mathematics teacher), 18, 19

      authority and form, 7

      questioning, 16–17

      and values, 188

Aviation Week and Space Technology, 86

Bacher, Robert (Bob), 44

Baudoin, King of Belgium, 60

bearing spalling, 172

Beggs, James F. (administrator of NASA), 161

Bell Telephone Laboratories, 24

Berkeley, 118

Bessel functions, 40

Bethe, Hans, 30–31, 72

Bethe, Henry, 72, 74n

Blondel, Andre, 105

blowby, O-ring, 94, 102, 167–168, 169  {190} 

Bohr, Niels, 60

Boisjoly, Roger, 119

bottom–up design, of engines, 170

      of shuttle software, 176

Bragg, William, 61

Brussels (Belgium), 59–63

bureaucracy, 66

      personal reactions to, 79–80

      report preparation, 104–105

Burns, Jerry, 119

Cable News Network (CNN), 111

California Institute of Technology, see Caltech

calligraphy, Chinese, 31–32

Caltech, 50, 79, 80, 112, 137, 153, 157, 166

certification, 172

criteria, deteriorating, 165–166

      rules for, 175

      initial, 172

Challenger accident, 77–188

Chrysler Company, 20

clevis, field joint, 108

Columbia, 19

combustion chamber, flaws in, 171–172

communication, 186, 187

      as a bureaucratic tool, 160

      of management with

      engineers, 134–35

      within NASA, 158–159

computer systems (avionics), 175–178

concepts, and applications, 185–186

Cook, Richard C, 99, 104, 105, 107

Cornell University, 71, 73, 74, 75

costs

      of modifying procedures, 126

      of replacing software, 176

      of top–down design, 170

      of updating shuttle computers, 142

counting

      and measuring time, 36–40

      patterns for, 38–39

Covert, Eugene E., 88, 112, 118, 137

Crete, 71

cross talk, 140

culture, see also tradition and values, 41–42

Davies, Richard (Dick), 79

Davis, B. K., 120

Deborah Hospital, 26

democracy and doubt, 188

Descartes, Rene, 16

Design, Development and Production panel, 131

discrimination

      religious, 19

      sexual, 26, 50–52

      and stereotypes, 52

Disturbing the Universe (Dyson), 71n

documentation of shuttle performance, 165–166

doubt, 186

dreaming, 35, 36

Dyson, Freeman, 71n

      letters of, 71–74

Eddington, Arthur, 50

education and culture, 41–42

enabling power of science, 182–183

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2, 16  {191} 

engineering judgment, 135n, 167

      estimates of engine failure probability, 172

      estimates of shuttle failure probability, 134–135, 138

Eratosthenes, 70

erosion, O–ring, 82, 83f, 94, 96f, 102, 167–169

esthetics

      and reason, 31

      scientific aspects of, 1

      and scientific information, 183–185

executive order, defining work of presidential commission, 85

external tank (ET), 88

FAA

      certification practices, 172

      certification trial success, 172–173

      criteria for success, 174

      safety rules, 137

Fabriola, Queen of Belgium, 60

family

      Carl (son), 63n, 64n, 70, 73, 73n

      Chuck (nephew), 111, 113

      father–in–law (Arlene's father), 33

      Frances (cousin), 111, 113, 155

      Joan (sister), 2n, 31–32, 50, 150

      Lucille (mother), 2, 7–8

      Melville (father), 2–5

      Michelle (daughter), 68, 73n

Federal Aviation Administration, see FAA

Fermi, Enrico, 30–31

ferrite–core computers, 176

Feynman, Arlene, 13, 15–17, 18–35

Feynman, Carl, 63n, 64n, 70, 73, 73n

Feynman, Gweneth, 53–58, 62n, 79, 80, 113–114

Feynman, Joan, 2n, 31–32, 50, 150

Feynman, Lucille, 2, 7–8

Feynman, Melville, 2–5

Feynman, Michelle, 68, 73n

Feynman Lectures on Physics, 50

Fichtel (foreman, assembly crew), 126–128

field joint, 77, 78f, 82, 83f, 115

      model of, 107f

flight readiness reviews, 174–175

Fuchs, Klaus, 33

fuel tank, shuttle, 78f

Galileo (Jupiter probe), 132

Gast, Harold, 12, 17

Gell–Mann, Murray, 43, 59

Geneva (Switzerland), 43–47

Goldschmidt, Herman, 48–49

Graham, William R. (Bill) (acting administrator, NASA), 79, 81, 84–85, 87, 90–91, 92, 95, 98, 99, 104, 105, 136n, 143, 161

Grand Hotel (Warsaw), 64–67

gravity conference, 66–67

Greece, 68–71

Hansen, Grant L. (editor), 146

Heisenberg, Werner, 61  {192} 

Hibbs, Albert R. (Al), 79, 81

high–frequency vibration, 136, 172

high–pressure fuel turbopump (HPFTP), 88

      reliability of, 171

      flaws in, 171

high–pressure oxygen turbopump (HPOTP), 88

      flaws in, 171, 172

Hollings, Ernest (Senator, SC), 128–129

Hotel Amigo, 59

Hotel City, 43–47

Hotz, Robert B., 86, 88, 123–124, 144, 149, 151

Hughes Aircraft Company, 79

Illiapoulos, Professor, 68, 69

Independent Solid Rocket Motor Design Oversight Committee, 147

infinity, 75

intellectual value of science, 183

Iran–Contra hearings, 158

Iseokitsu (Japan), 54–56

Japan, 53–58

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, see JPL

Johnson Space Center, 139, 166

joint rotation, 93f, 94, 96f

JPL, 81–82, 8In, 84, 88, 130, 137, 166

Jupiter probe, 132

Kapp, Jack, 119

Keel, Alton G., Jr. (Al), 117–118, 121, 146, 151–152, 158, 162–163

      recommendations of commission, 149

      report distribution, 139, 146

Kennedy, John E (President), 128n

Kennedy Space Center, 77, 90, 115–129, 137

Kingsbury, James E., 132

Kissinger, Henry, 81

Kiwi, Feynman dog, 63, 63n, 64, 67

knowledge

      kinds of, 3

      observing multiple mental activities, 39–40

Kutyna, General Donald J., 85, 87, 88, 89, 90, 98–99, 106, 108, 112–113, 131, 132–133, 143, 151, 155, 163–164

Lamberth (manager, rocket assembly), 124–125, 127, 139

Launch Abort Safety Panel (LASP), 166

Lawrence High School (Nassau County), 19

leak test, 95n

      port, 99, 102f

learning

      about esthetics, 31

      internal processes, 40

      patterns in, 2

      and teaching, 74–75

Lee, Meemong, 130

Leff, David, 12, 17

Lehrer, James, 157

LeMaitre, Abbe George Eduoard, 61

letters

      Dyson's about Feynman, 71–74  {193} 

      to Gweneth, 113–114

            from Athens, 68–71

            from Brussels, 59–63

            from Warsaw, 64–67

            from Henry Bethe, from Warsaw, 74–75

Lewis, Sinclair, 17

Lifer, Charles E. (JPL), 84

liquid hydrogen (LH), 88

liquid oxygen (LOX), 88

Lockheed, instructions for shuttle engines, 137

Lorenz, Konrad, 74, 75

Los Alamos, 28

      problem solving at, 159

Louvain University, 61

Lovingood, Judson A. (manager), 87, 133–135, 135n

Lund, Robert, 118, 119, 130

McAuliffe, Christa, 123, 178, 178n

McDonald, Allan J., 101–102, 104, 108

MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour, 153, 155

management

      estimates of shuttle reliability, 178

      view of assembly crews, 124–126

Manhattan Project, 25

Marshall Space Center, 137, 166

      engineering briefing, 138

      estimates of engine failure, 132, 172

Mason, Gerald D., 118

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, see MIT

memory, of shuttle computers, 140, 176

Metropolis, Nicholas (Nick), 29, 32

Mission Planning and Operations group, 131

MIT, 7, 19, 20, 73

Möbius strip, 16–17

model

      computer, performance analysis of O–ring, 95

      of O–ring erosion, 169

Moore, Jesse W., 87

Moore, Dr. Nicholas (JPL), 166

Morton Thiokol Company, 77, 93, 94, 101–102, 118–119, 130, 158–159, 161

      Boisjoly, Roger, 119

      Bums, Jerry, 119

      Kapp, Jack, 119

      Lund, Robert, 118, 119, 130

      McDonald, Allan J., 101–102, 104, 108

      Mason, Gerald D., 118

      Thompson, Arnie, 119

Mountain–forming day (Oberlin), 32

Mulloy, Lawrence B., 102, 107–108, 110, 130, 158–159, 161–162

NASA, 77, 92–95, 98, 118, 166

      Aldrich, Arnold D., 87

      certification rules, initial, 172–173

      Cook, Richard C, 99, 104, 105, 107

      Davis, B. K., 120

      estimates of engine failure, 132, 172  {194} 

      Fichtel (foreman, assembly crew), 126–128

      Kingsbury, James E., 132

      Lamberth (manager, rocket assembly), 124–125, 127, 139

      Lovingood, Judson A. (manager), 87, 133–135, 135n

      Moore, Jesse W., 87

      Mulloy, Lawrence B., 102, 107–108, 110, 130, 158–159, 161–162

      Stevenson, Charles G. (Charlie), 117, 119, 130

      Weeks, L. Michael, 93–95

National Academy of Sciences, 149, 182n

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, see NASA

New York Times, 98, 99, 143

New Zealand lectures, 71, 71n

Nixon, Richard (President), 81

Nobel Prize, 53n, 62n

Noto Peninsula (Japan), 56–58

N–ray hoax, 105

Oberlin College, 31

Office of Management and Budget, 117

Office of Safety, Reliability, and Quality Assurance, 147

OMB, Office of Management and Budget, 117

Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 28, 60

O–ring, 82, 93–94, 93f

      ice–water demonstration, 109f

      origin of speculation about, 163–164

      performance model, 95

Palace of Culture and Science (Warsaw), 67

Parker Seal Company, 94

Parthenon, 69

patterns, and counting, 38–40

peace, 187

Peierls, Rudolph, 72

Perrin, J., 60

Physical Society, 43

plutonium, power supply, 166

political pressure for launch, 114, 123, 143, 161–162

precision and approximation, 16

Pre-launch Activities group, 131

presidential commission, 77–179

      connections of members, 111–114

      fact finding by, 81–110

      investigative process, 115–129

      members of, 88

      recommendations of, 147–152

      report

            formal presentation of, 154f

            preparation, 143–146

      working groups of, 131

Princeton, 20, 24, 25, 36

probability, subjective, at NASA, 166–167

purge check valve, flaws in, 171  {195} 

QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (Feynman), 7In

radioactive thermal generator (RTG), 166

reaction control systems, reliability of, 177–178

recommendations

      presidential commission, 147–152

      seals report, 97f

redundancy in shuttle computers, 140–141, 175–176

reliability

      of high–pressure fuel turbopump, 171

      management estimates of, 178

      Office of Safety, Reliability, and Quality Assurance, 147

      of reaction control systems, 177–178

      of sensors in shuttle systems, 177

      of shuttle, 165–179

      of shuttle computer hardware, 176–177

religion

      Buddhist proverb, 183

      formal training (Feynman's), 13–15

      religious experience in science, 185

Ride, Sally K., 85, 85bn, 88, 91, 95, 98, 112, 118, 131, 139, 144

Rocketdyne, 137, 166

      estimates of engine failure, 172

Rogers, William R, 81, 85–86, 88, 89–90, 91–92, 104, 108, 110, 111–112, 113, 117, 118, 119–120, 128–129, 130, 131, 143, 153, 155, 157, 158, 161

      recommendations of commission, 148–152

Royal Olympic Hotel (Athens), 68

Rummel, Robert W, 88

safety boards, 147

safety factor

      deteriorating, 173

      for O–ring failure, 168

scheduling

      and pressure to launch, 159

      and shuttle safety, 178–179

Scientific American, The, 69, 70

Sears, Roebuck and Co., 29

sensors, shuttle systems, reliability of, 177–178

shuttle

      computer operation of, 140–141

      description of, 77

      engineering briefing, JPL, 81–82, 84

      engineering briefing for Feynman, 92–95

      engine specifications, 171–172

      failure, probability of, 132

      flame from, 100f–101

      launch information, 115, 117

      reliability of, 165–179

      responsibility for engines, 137,  {196} 

Shuttle (Cont'd.)

      reworking components for reuse, 121–122

      smoke from, 103f, 115, 116f, 117

Shuttle Transportation System Safety Advisory Panel, 147

simulator, computer checking on, 139–140

social responsibility

      and ignorance, 188

      and scientific exploration, 182

software

      bottom–up design, 176–177

      for shuttle computers, 141–143, 175–176

      verification of shuttle, 176–177

solid–fuel rocket boosters (SRBs), 78f, 88, 166–169

Solomon, Jerry, 130

Sound and Symbol in Chinese, 31

space shuttle main engines (SSMEs), 88, 169–175

Space Shuttle Program, Air Force, 112

Stapler, Robert, 12

stereotypes, 2n, 52

Stevenson, Charles G. (Charlie), 117, 119, 130

subsynchronous whirl, 135, 172

success, predicting, 167–168

Sutter, Joseph E, 88, 118, 131

Tamm, Igor, 44

tang, field joint, 108, 108n

Tartaglia, Niccolo, 69

temperature

      effect on O–rings, 98–99

      at launch pad, 117

            analysis of, 120–121

      and O–ring incidents, 97f

Thinking Machines Company, 73n, 80

Thompson, Arnie, 119

thought process, in technicolor, 40

Time, 64

time sense, 36–40

Titan rocket, investigation of failure, 89

Togi (Japan), 56–58

top–down design, see also bottom–up design

      of shuttle main engine, 170–172

      of space shuttles, 136

tradition

      Greek, 69

      Indian, 42

      Japanese, 56–57

Treasure Island, 17

Trinidad, 41–42

Tukey, John, 39–40

Ullian, Louis J., 132, 166

United Nations (Geneva), 43

University of California at Berkeley, see Berkeley University of Kanazawa, 56

University of Tokyo, 53

values

      and authority, 118

      and culture, 41–42

      in science, 181

      and uncertainty, 186  {197} 

      and utility, Buddhist proverb, 183

verification, of shuttle computer software, 176–177

Voltaire, 186

Walker, Arthur B.C., Jr., 88, 118

Walker, Bernie, 36

Warren, Earl (Chief Justice), 128n

Warren Commission Report, 128

Warsaw (Poland), 64

Washington Post, 111

Weeks, L. Michael, 93–95

Weibull distribution, 137

Weisskopf, Victor, 72

Wheeler, John A., 67, 73

Wheeler, Janet (Mrs. John A.), 67

Wheelon, Albert D., 88

whistle, in shuttle engine, 136–137

Wigner, Eugene, 28

Women's Garment Workers Union, 26

Wood, Robert Williams, 105

Woodward, William (Bill), 27

wordsmithing, presidential commission report, 144

Yukawa, Hideki, 53, 53n

Zinc Cremate Putty, 82, 83f, 95n