Richard and Joan had a good father. Clearly, both of them were influenced by the father. ``` Feynman: But my father, you see, interested me in patterns at th

Richard and Joan had a good father. Clearly, both of them were influenced by the father. ``` Feynman: But my father, you see, interested me in patterns at the very beginning, and then later in things, like we would turn over stones and watch the ants carry the little white babies down deeper into the holes. We would look at worms. All the time playing — when we’d go for walks, we’d look at things all the time, and then he’d tell me about things of every kind. The stars, the bugs, geometry things, and so on. He was always telling me interesting things — the way birds fly, the way ocean waves work, or something, you see, the weather. I don’t know why, any more, but there was always talking about the world, from every angle. Not just mathematics or anything like that, but the whole business he was interested in, and he was always telling me things. So he therefore developed somehow, inside me, more or less naturally, an interest in anything rational and scientific. ... Weiner: That’s very interesting. Evidently your father’s influence spread. Feynman: She said that it was because she would overhear us talking, and then she would ask me things, and I would explain it to her. That’s what she says. It wasn’t so direct in her case. ```