4 ms·

I read "Surely your joking Mr. Feynman" a few years ago, but to this day I somehow never knew he had a sister that was an accomplished scientist.

by fs111 6y ago

Cilvic 6y ago
I'm reading it at the moment too, loving it! Maybe halfway through he hasn't mentioned her once I believe. Edit: See below how she is mentioned.
- pjc50 6y ago
  While Richard Feynman's anecdotes are great entertainment, after a while you realise that the common theme is how great Richard Feynman is.
  - mac01021 6y ago
    Well isn't the book just a compilation by RF's friend, constructed from interview sessions? I'm sure RF had a healthy ego, but I don't think he can be blamed entirely for this feature of the book.
- pistoriusp 6y ago
  Odd, I fondly remember him mentioning her, and how important she was as a voice of reason to him. Update: I went looking for sources in the PDF, I've add them to the parent post. She was mentioned frequently. I actually even recall this story about the Auroras, but I cannot remember where I've heard it.
ManuelKiessling 6y ago
Well,that probably says a lot about her brother...
- pistoriusp 6y ago
  Maybe take the time to verify the assumption that his sister is not mentioned before jumping to a conclusion.
miguelsm 6y ago
I found out about her through this very insightful interview recorded as a series of short videos: [1] https://webofstories.com/play/joan.feynman/1 https://webofstories.com/play/joan.feynman/1 [2] https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVV0r6CmEsFwoLHwaKDx9oOReqjwdUa9S https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVV0r6CmEsFwoLHwaKDx9oO...
FlorianRappl 6y ago
That is true for me as well. Read a lot of things from Richard Feynman, even saw some videos / interviews with him. Never saw him mentioning her. Maybe just an oversight. RIP.
- glaberficken 6y ago
  Same here. I guess in a way by not mentioning her a lot in public he was protecting her from only becoming known as "Richard Feynman's sister". That way you leave the room for the other person to emerge on her own terms.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
pistoriusp 6y ago
Joan is mentioned frequently, she is a deep source of comfort, inspiration, and a voice of reason. > _One time I came home from college for a vacation, and my sister was sort of unhappy, almost crying: her Girl Scouts were having a fatherdaughter banquet, but our father was out on the road, selling uniforms. So I said I would take her, being the brother (I'm nine years older, so it wasn't so crazy)._ > _During the conference I was staying with my sister in Syracuse. I brought the paper home and said to her, "I can't understand these things that Lee and Yang are saying. It's all so complicated." "No," she' said, "what you mean is not that you can't understand it, but that you didn't invent it. You didn't figure it out your own way, from hearing the clue. What you should do is imagine you're a student again, and take this paper upstairs, read every line of it, and check the equations. Then you'll understand it very easily." I took her advice, and checked through the whole thing, and found it to be very obvious and simple._ > _I called up my sister in New York to thank her for getting me to sit down and work through that paper by Lee and Yang at the Rochester Conference. After feeling uncomfortable and behind, now I was in;_ > _Just then my sister calls from New York: "How about the 9 percent what's happened?" "I've just discovered that there's new data: 7 percent. . ." "Which way?" "I'm trying to find out. I'll call you back." I was so excited that I couldn't think. It's like when you're rushing for an airplane, and you don't know whether you're late or not, and you just can't make it, when somebody says, "It's daylight saving time!" Yes, but which way? You can't think in the excitement._
- peeters 6y ago
  > _During the conference I was staying with my sister in Syracuse. I brought the paper home and said to her, "I can't understand these things that Lee and Yang are saying. It's all so complicated." "No," she' said, "what you mean is not that you can't understand it, but that you didn't invent it. You didn't figure it out your own way, from hearing the clue. What you should do is imagine you're a student again, and take this paper upstairs, read every line of it, and check the equations. Then you'll understand it very easily." I took her advice, and checked through the whole thing, and found it to be very obvious and simple._ Can't help but think that has some relevance to programming.
  - 6y ago

I read "Surely your joking Mr. Feynman" a few years ago, but to this day I somehow never knew he had a sister that was an accomplished scientist.

by fs111 6y ago

I read "Surely your joking Mr. Feynman" a few years ago, but to this day I somehow never knew he had a sister that was an accomplished scientist.

Cilvic 6y ago

I'm reading it at the moment too, loving it! Maybe halfway through he hasn't mentioned her once I believe. Edit: See below how she is mentioned.

pjc50 6y ago
While Richard Feynman's anecdotes are great entertainment, after a while you realise that the common theme is how great Richard Feynman is.
- mac01021 6y ago
  Well isn't the book just a compilation by RF's friend, constructed from interview sessions? I'm sure RF had a healthy ego, but I don't think he can be blamed entirely for this feature of the book.
pistoriusp 6y ago
Odd, I fondly remember him mentioning her, and how important she was as a voice of reason to him. Update: I went looking for sources in the PDF, I've add them to the parent post. She was mentioned frequently. I actually even recall this story about the Auroras, but I cannot remember where I've heard it.

ManuelKiessling 6y ago

Well,that probably says a lot about her brother...

pistoriusp 6y ago
Maybe take the time to verify the assumption that his sister is not mentioned before jumping to a conclusion.

miguelsm 6y ago

I found out about her through this very insightful interview recorded as a series of short videos: [1] https://webofstories.com/play/joan.feynman/1 https://webofstories.com/play/joan.feynman/1 [2] https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVV0r6CmEsFwoLHwaKDx9oOReqjwdUa9S https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVV0r6CmEsFwoLHwaKDx9oO...

FlorianRappl 6y ago

That is true for me as well. Read a lot of things from Richard Feynman, even saw some videos / interviews with him. Never saw him mentioning her. Maybe just an oversight. RIP.

glaberficken 6y ago
Same here. I guess in a way by not mentioning her a lot in public he was protecting her from only becoming known as "Richard Feynman's sister". That way you leave the room for the other person to emerge on her own terms.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

pistoriusp 6y ago

Joan is mentioned frequently, she is a deep source of comfort, inspiration, and a voice of reason. > _One time I came home from college for a vacation, and my sister was sort of unhappy, almost crying: her Girl Scouts were having a fatherdaughter banquet, but our father was out on the road, selling uniforms. So I said I would take her, being the brother (I'm nine years older, so it wasn't so crazy)._ > _During the conference I was staying with my sister in Syracuse. I brought the paper home and said to her, "I can't understand these things that Lee and Yang are saying. It's all so complicated." "No," she' said, "what you mean is not that you can't understand it, but that you didn't invent it. You didn't figure it out your own way, from hearing the clue. What you should do is imagine you're a student again, and take this paper upstairs, read every line of it, and check the equations. Then you'll understand it very easily." I took her advice, and checked through the whole thing, and found it to be very obvious and simple._ > _I called up my sister in New York to thank her for getting me to sit down and work through that paper by Lee and Yang at the Rochester Conference. After feeling uncomfortable and behind, now I was in;_ > _Just then my sister calls from New York: "How about the 9 percent what's happened?" "I've just discovered that there's new data: 7 percent. . ." "Which way?" "I'm trying to find out. I'll call you back." I was so excited that I couldn't think. It's like when you're rushing for an airplane, and you don't know whether you're late or not, and you just can't make it, when somebody says, "It's daylight saving time!" Yes, but which way? You can't think in the excitement._

peeters 6y ago
> _During the conference I was staying with my sister in Syracuse. I brought the paper home and said to her, "I can't understand these things that Lee and Yang are saying. It's all so complicated." "No," she' said, "what you mean is not that you can't understand it, but that you didn't invent it. You didn't figure it out your own way, from hearing the clue. What you should do is imagine you're a student again, and take this paper upstairs, read every line of it, and check the equations. Then you'll understand it very easily." I took her advice, and checked through the whole thing, and found it to be very obvious and simple._ Can't help but think that has some relevance to programming.
- 6y ago