8.6 /10 1 Votes
Country United States Subject Physics LC Class QC71 .F44 Date written 1964 Published 1965 (BBC) | 4.3/5 Goodreads Language English Pages 173 pp. Genre Non-fiction ISBN 0679601279 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Character of Physical Law is a series of seven lectures by physicist Richard Feynman concerning the nature of the laws of physics. The lectures were delivered by Feynman in 1964 at Cornell University, as part of the Messenger Lectures series. The BBC recorded the seven lectures and published a book by the same name in 1965. Cornell University published the BBC's recordings on a Cornell website in September 2015.
Contents
Topics
The lectures covered the following topics:
- The law of gravitation, an example of physical law
- The relation of mathematics and physics
- The great conservation principles
- Symmetry in physical law
- The distinction of past and future
- Probability and uncertainty - the quantum mechanical view of nature
- Seeking new laws
Reception
Critical reception has been positive. The Physics Teacher gave a favorable review for The Character of Physical Law, writing that although the book was initially intended to supplement the BBC recordings of the lectures, it was "complete in itself and will appeal to a far wider audience" and recommended it to scientists and non-scientists.
Selections
- "In general we look for a new law by the following process. First we guess it. ...", – Feynman 1965, p. 156