Before starting “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!” I had never heard of Feynman. Reading these first three parts have shown me just how similar, and yet very different, Feynman is to Einstein and other scientists we have read about. From a young age, Feynman was both smart and very curious about how the world works. This is very similar to Einstein and Darwin, who from a young age were both curious and interested in nature and why things worked the way that they did. Feynman also was not a very good student; he received good grades but did not pay attention in class. This reminded me a lot of Einstein and how as a student he had good grades but he often did not listen to his professors and would do things differently then professors wanted. Feynman also was interested in a variety of subjects and even wanted to meet with other scientific groups and see there different perspectives. This was different from Einstein who did not like math — during his younger years — and tended to enjoy only certain subjects. Unlike most of the others that we have read about, Feynman realized how important it is to communicate and work with others. He was always sharing his ideas and he did a good job of communicating his ideas to other people.
Throughout the reading it can also be seen how observant Feynman is. This is an important trait for scientists to have. The other scientists we have read about — Darwin, Einstein, McClintock, etc. — are all observed, which allows them to notice things that other people would not have noticed otherwise. Feynman often thought of things differently than those around him, which allowed him to notice and do things that others would not be able to. This is very similar to Einstein who thought visually, which was different from many of the colleagues that he worked with. Although he is very similar to Einstein in a lot of ways, Feynman was someone would had to calculate things to see them, he could not just visualize them. Einstein was different in that he was someone who could just visually see how something worked, he didn’t necessarily need to write down the equations. I think it is interesting to read about a scientists who is somewhat different than the ones that we have recently read about.
Throughout the reading it can also be seen how observant Feynman is. This is an important trait for scientists to have. The other scientists we have read about — Darwin, Einstein, McClintock, etc. — are all observed, which allows them to notice things that other people would not have noticed otherwise. Feynman often thought of things differently than those around him, which allowed him to notice and do things that others would not be able to. This is very similar to Einstein who thought visually, which was different from many of the colleagues that he worked with. Although he is very similar to Einstein in a lot of ways, Feynman was someone would had to calculate things to see them, he could not just visualize them. Einstein was different in that he was someone who could just visually see how something worked, he didn’t necessarily need to write down the equations. I think it is interesting to read about a scientists who is somewhat different than the ones that we have recently read about.