Graduated with a Bachelor degree from MIT
in 1939, he went on to Princeton,
obtained his PhD in 1942, just barely 24 years old.
Played a significant role in the Manhattan Project,
which the team led by Oppenheimer, created the first atomic bomb.
After the war, he went to Cornell to teach for
a while and eventually, settled in the California
Institute of Technology (CalTech) where he remained for the rest of
his career.
He was the Richard Chace Tolman Professor of
Theoretical Physics at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech)
from 1959 to 1988.
Co-winner of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics
for his independent work on quantum electrodynamics (QED). The other two co-winners are Tomonaga and Julian Schwinger.
At Caltech, he worked on many problems, including
a theory of weak interactions with colleague Murray Gell-Mann, a theory
of superfluidity and getting interested in computation and nanotechnology.
He foresaw and envisioned the coming age of Nanotechnology and its immense applications. (See
his lecture)
Solved the Challenger
space shuttle disaster in 1986 which killed all seven astronauts.
[Reason: Seal ring (O-Rings) faulty] (According
to Feynman, he said "those fellows" knew something was wrong but did not
take any action 'til it's too late! Feynman likened it to playing Russian
roulette, as the first try which didn't go off does not mean it never
will.)
Feynman was married a total of three times throughout his life, the
last with Gweneth Howarth and they have a son, Carl and an adopted daughter,
Michelle.
Dick Feynman finally succumbed to stomach cancer on Feb 15, 1988.
" I'd hate to die twice. It's so boring." were his last words.
" Know how to solve every problem that has been solved. "
" D-I-S-R-E-G-A-R-D "
" I was born not knowing, and could only change a little here and there. "
" What do YOU Care what other people think? "
" If it disagrees with experiment, it is wrong. "
" I don't have to be good because they think I'm going to be good. "
" You cannot say A is made of B or vice versa. All mass is interaction. "
" The rules of the game are what we mean by fundamental physics. "
" Do not ask yourself, if you can possibly avoid that, 'how can it be like that?' because you will lead yourself down a blind alley in which no one has ever escaped. "
" For a successful technology, nature must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled. "
 | The Feynman Webring |
Last modified: Tue Jan 10, 2006
