BookshelfJacob deGroot-Maggetti

Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics Explained by its Most Brilliant Teacher – Richard Feynman

Thoughts: Six Easy Pieces came recommended by Simon Clark as a good introduction to the field of physics. A slim volume, this book was a bit hit-and-miss for me: some sections I found fascinating, while others were dry. One of the most striking aspects of this book, as pointed out in one of its several prefaces, is Feynman’s knack for finding really elegant and insightful analogies for the phenomena he discusses. If you’re interested in physics, or possibly also pedagogy, Six Easy Pieces may be worth your time.

(The notes below are not a summary of the book, but rather raw notes - whatever I thought, at the time, might be worth remembering.)

Feynman, Richard P. 1995. Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics Explained by its Most Brilliant Teacher. Basic.

Special Preface

Feynman’s Preface

1: Atoms in Motion

2: Basic Physics

3: The Relation of Physics to Other Sciences

4: Conservation of Energy

5: The Theory of Gravitation

6: Quantum Behavior

Posted: Oct 02, 2021. Last updated: Aug 31, 2023.