The Beat of a Different Drum: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman

by Mehra and Jagdish Mehra

Book Overview

Few would argue that Richard Feynman was one of the greatest American-born theoretical physicists of the twentieth century, and fewer still would dispute that he was the most iconoclastic. In the words of the eminent mathematician Mark Kac, geniuses are of two kinds: the ordinary, and the magicians. Feynman was a magician of the highest caliber. No one could guess how his mind worked, how he could make transcendental leaps of the imagination so fearlessly...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0198518870
• ISBN13: 9780198518877
• Release Date: July 1996
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 710 Pages
• Weight: 2.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Let's Talk a Little About the History of Science Because Jagdish Mehra Wrote the Book On it

My dad ,Jagdish Mehra, passed away on September 14, 2008 . He was Richard Feynman's only biographer . He authored and edited a lot of books! Jagdish Mehra was awarded the both the Humboldt and Leibniz prizes for physics. He lectured all over the world . He knew these scientists of the twentieth century personally. He interviewed more physicists and men and women of letters than anyone . I know because I was there - Mead , Huxley , Galbraith, Macleish , Rao, C P Snow. He knocked himself out to chronicle what he called "The Golden Age of Theoretical Physics". He lived to work and he worked hard. I remember watching a lecture of his at the University of Texas- the hall was packed,standing room only . You could hear a pin drop as this brilliant man , armed with first hand knowledge and an array of stunning equations, held the room in the palm of his hand.He had what the great thinkers of his time said about him -the gift of " Historical Insight ".But that gift came with a huge price attached to it ! He suffered from heart disease and diabetes because he burned the candle at both ends. He knew them all- Heisenberg , Fermi ,Pauli ,Dirac ,Bohr, Feynman , Holton , Oppenheimer , Bethe, Dyson , Enz , Lamb ,Salam , Schwinger , Wigner , Wheeler , Weisskopf , Weisner, Prigogine , Casimir , Teller and Gell-Mann . It is widely known that Mehra was instrumental in Prigogine receiving the Nobel Prize! Nobody else was everywhere at once illuminating the scientific accomplishments of these physicists.These Nobel laureates enjoyed my father's company and valued his work too because no one else was chronicling in scholarly detail their accomplishments. So when I read some of these cheap shot reviews by people who are not as classically educated,witty,erudite and just plain intelligent as my dad I get a little riled up . Jagdish Mehra literally killed himself to get the story out. It took a toll on his health. He worked so hard to complete his History of Science and he was very proud of his Feynman biography . Let's face it - Mehra is the one that is most quoted and used as a source more than others because he was more insightful and thorough in detail.The inaccuracy of the "Library " review galls! Mehra's assistance was a source Gleick used for his second hand book.After all it was Mehra who Feynman selected to be his scientific biographer. I too am what Feynman called "A chip of the old block" - a tiny chip at that but I would argue that my dad wrote a pretty good book about the thought process of a great physicist in "The Beat of a Different Drum". He did not like to be edited , but that was about his ego - he always thought he said it better and more precisely than others .John and Mary Gribbin do a very fine job of writing and editing their wonderful Feynman biography -"Richard Feynman-A Life in Science".If you want something highly insightful but a little easier to read , I'd turn there . I 'll bet those who found the math tedious didn't really understand its

Let's Talk a Little About the History of Science Because Jagdish Mehra Wrote the Book On it

My dad ,Jagdish Mehra, passed away on September 14, 2008 . He was Richard Feynman's only official biographer . He authored and edited a lot of books! Jagdish Mehra was awarded both the Humboldt and Leibniz prizes for physics. He lectured all over the world . He knew these scientists of the twentieth century personally. He interviewed more physicists and men and women of letters than anyone . I know because I was there - Mead , Huxley , Galbraith, Macleish , Rao, C P Snow. He chronicled what he called "The Golden Age of Theoretical Physics". He lived for his work and he worked hard. I remember watching a lecture of his at the University of Texas- the hall was packed,standing room only . You could hear a pin drop as this brilliant man , armed with first hand knowledge and an array of stunning equations, held the room in the palm of his hand.He had what the great thinkers of his time said about him -the gift of " Historical Insight ".But that gift came with a huge price attached to it ! He suffered from heart disease and diabetes because he burned the candle at both ends. He knew them all- Heisenberg , Fermi ,Pauli ,Dirac ,Bohr, Feynman , Holton , Oppenheimer , Bethe, Dyson , Enz , Lamb ,Salam , Schwinger ,Sudarshan, Wigner , Wheeler , Weisskopf , Weisner, Prigogine , Casimir , Teller and Gell-Mann . It is widely known that Mehra was instrumental in Prigogine receiving the Nobel Prize! Nobody else was everywhere at once illuminating the scientific accomplishments of these physicists.These Nobel laureates enjoyed my father's company and valued his work too because no one else was chronicling in scholarly detail their accomplishments. So when I read some of these cheap shot reviews by people who are not as classically educated,witty,erudite and just plain intelligent as my dad I get a little riled up . He worked so hard to complete his History of Science and he was very proud of his Feynman biography . Let's face it - Mehra is the one that is most quoted and used as a source more than others because he was more insightful and thorough in detail.The inaccuracy of the "Library " review galls! Mehra's assistance was a source Gleick used for his second hand book.After all it was Mehra who Feynman selected to be his scientific biographer. I too am what Feynman called "A chip of the old block" - a tiny chip at that but I would argue that my dad wrote a pretty good book about the thought process of a great physicist in "The Beat of a Different Drum". He did not like to be edited , but that was about his ego - he always thought he said it better and more precisely than others . I don't think Gleick's book is very good at all . John and Mary Gribbin do a very fine job of writing and editing their wonderful Feynman biography -"Richard Feynman-A Life in Science". If you want something highly insightful but a little easier to read than Mehra and better written than Gleick, I'd turn there . I 'll bet those who found the math tedious didn't really understand it

Surely you are joking !

I am writing in response to the "zero star"review from from an unidentifiable source in Redondo Beach ,Ca. and some seconding chimpanzee in Sydney,Australia. Firstly , you are not "a physicist too" ! You can't even understand the mathematical representation of Feynman's science .Dr. Mehra is a physicist who has intimate first hand knowledge of all aspects of the history of quantum theory. Mr Redondo is probably confusing "physicist" with "physical therapist". A word of advice to Redondoman : Learn the Science;learn the value of details;learn the English language and when you lecture at Oxford "too" then you "too" will appreciate the specificity of carefully researched and personally corroborated biography [quite unlike the James Gleick general, sophomoric,second hand effort]. Redondoman you and the Sydney Chimp are "too" AWFUL to dignify further discussion . Dr. Mehra has produced a prodigious quantity and profound quality of work. Read it !

It's a legendary account of Feynman's thinking topology.

Jagdish just blew me away with his clear and expressive writing style. He brought me the real Richard Feynman I've been seeking. I've read all books on Richard Feynman and I rate Mehra's book as the best. I'm a Physicist and I will write an equation on honour of RF - this feeling was brought on by this book

The Life AND SCIENCE of Richard Feynman

The one-line summary of Mehra's book emphasizes that, while books such as SURELY YOU'RE JOKING, MR. FEYNMAN! and GENIUS give anecdotes from the life of Richard Feynman, only THE BEAT OF A DIFFERENT DRUM gives details of Dr. Feynman's scientific contributions. For anyone uninterested in such details, the equations can be ignored and an excellent biography remains.