Six Not-So-Easy Pieces
Author: Richard Feynman
After the success of “Six Easy Pieces,” the publishers decided to find another set of Feynman’s famous “Lectures on Physics” and release them as a book. These lectures cover much more advanced topics (things that I haven’t ever studied), but things that one should definitely know about. The topics are: vectors, symmetry, the special theory of relativity, relativistic energy and momentum, space-time, and curved space.
While these lectures are definitely more math-intensive than the previous 6, Feynman still does a great job of explaining these advanced physics topics through extensive use of analogy. I for the most part glossed over a lot of the math, but still was able to uncover the main takeaway: the ideas about relativity, the relationship between space and time, and how matter perturbes space-time.
Like the previous lectures, this is a pretty quick read. If you haven’t taken advanced physics, I think it’s worthwhile. Otherwise it’s probably material you’re already familiar with, but it is still interesting to see how Feynman presents the material.
Tags: book reviews