Table of Contents

Photons - particles of light; electrons and their interactions; loose ends.

About the Author

Richard P. Feynman (1918-1988) was one of this century's most brilliant theoretical physicists and original thinkers. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1965 for his work on QED. Books by Feynman in Penguin include The Character of Physical Law (1992, 36,000 copies), Six Easy Pieces (1998, 27,000 copies, and Six Not-So-Easy Pices (1999, 10,000 copies).

Reviews

This volume, constituting the printed version of the first of the Alix G. Mautner Memorial Lectures to be given periodically at UCLA, certainly gets this new series off to a flying start. World-renowned for the liveliness and creativity of his physical insights, Caltech physicist Feynman provides another of his tours de force as he clearly explains the arcane workings of quantum electrodynamics, a theory which Feynman himself helped to establish. Starting with such familiar phenomena as the reflection and refraction of light, Feynman goes on to describe in detail the interactions between electrons and light. Although the text requires more concentration to grasp than most science popularizations, things never get out of hand. A good choice for collections serving informed readers. Thomas E. Margrave, formerly with Physics & Astronomy Dept., Univ. of Montana, Missoula