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''The Character of Physical Law'' is a series of seven lectures by physicist
Richard Feynman
Richard Phillips Feynman (; May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist, known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of the superfl ...
concerning the nature of the
laws of physics
Scientific laws or laws of science are statements, based on repeated experiments or observations, that describe or predict a range of natural phenomena. The term ''law'' has diverse usage in many cases (approximate, accurate, broad, or narrow) ...
. Feynman delivered the lectures in 1964 at
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
, as part of the
Messenger Lectures series. The
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
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...
recorded the lectures, and published a book under the same title the following year;
Cornell published the BBC's recordings online in September 2015. In 2017
MIT Press
The MIT Press is a university press affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts (United States). It was established in 1962.
History
The MIT Press traces its origins back to 1926 when MIT publish ...
published, with a new foreword by
Frank Wilczek
Frank Anthony Wilczek (; born May 15, 1951) is an American theoretical physicist, mathematician and Nobel laureate. He is currently the Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Founding Direc ...
, a paperback reprint of the 1965 book.
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
Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, qua ...
view of nature
# Seeking new laws
Reception
Critical reception has been positive. The journal ''
The Physics Teacher
''The Physics Teacher'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by AIP Publishing on behalf of the American Association of Physics Teachers covering the history and philosophy of physics, applied physics, physics education (curriculum dev ...
'', in recommending it to both scientists and non-scientists alike, gave ''The Character of Physical Law'' a favorable review, writing that although the book was initially intended to supplement the recordings, it was "complete in itself and will appeal to a far wider audience".
Selections
#"In general we look for a new law by the following process. First we guess it. ...", –
See also
* ''
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter''
* ''
The Feynman Lectures on Physics
''The Feynman Lectures on Physics'' is a physics textbook based on some lectures by Richard Feynman, a Nobel laureate who has sometimes been called "The Great Explainer". The lectures were presented before undergraduate students at the Californ ...
''
References
Lectures
Works by Richard Feynman
Physics books
1965 non-fiction books
Books of lectures
{{physics-book-stub