Ralph Leighton ( ; born 1949) is an American
biographer
Biographers are authors who write an account of another person's life, while autobiographers are authors who write their own biography.
Biographers
Countries of working life: Ab=Arabia, AG=Ancient Greece, Al=Australia, Am=Armenian, AR=Ancient Rome ...
,
film producer, and friend of the late
physicist
A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...
Richard Feynman
Richard Phillips Feynman (; May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist. He is best known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of t ...
.
He recorded Feynman relating stories of his life. Leighton has released some of the recordings as ''The Feynman Tapes''. These interviews (available as The Feynman Tapes on audio) became the basis for the books ''
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!'' and ''
What Do You Care What Other People Think?'', which were later combined into the hardcover anniversary edition ''Classic Feynman: All the Adventures of a Curious Character''. Leighton is an amateur drummer and founder of the group Friends of Tuva. In 1990 he wrote ''
Tuva or Bust! Richard Feynman's Last Journey.''
He is credited as associate producer and originator of the concept for the
Academy-Award–nominated documentary film ''
Genghis Blues'' (2000), which came about through the nexus provided by Friends of Tuva.
Personal life
He is the son of the late
Caltech
The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private university, private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small g ...
physicist
Robert B. Leighton, who coauthored ''
The Feynman Lectures on Physics
''The Feynman Lectures on Physics'' is a physics textbook based on a great number of lectures by Richard Feynman, a Nobel laureate who has sometimes been called "The Great Explainer". The lectures were presented before undergraduate students ...
''. He is married to Phoebe Kwan; they have two children.
List of publications
* ''
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!'' (1985)
* ''
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter'' (1985)
* ''
What Do You Care What Other People Think?'' (1988)
* ''
Tuva or Bust!'' (1991)
*
References
External links
*
*
*
Feynman's Tips on Physics by Richard P. Feynman, Michael A. Gottlieb, Ralph Leighton() A Review by Bobby Matherne
The Feynman Tapes
1949 births
American biographers
Ghostwriters
Living people
Richard Feynman
Place of birth missing (living people)
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