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Here’s an excerpt from Surely You’re Joking, Mr Feynman! If anyone’s curious: “Then I looked at the bookshelf and said, ‘Those books you haven’t looked at for
by dorkwood 4y ago
Here’s an excerpt from Surely You’re Joking, Mr Feynman! If anyone’s curious:
“Then I looked at the bookshelf and said, ‘Those books you haven’t looked at for a while, right? This time, when I go out, take one book off the shelf, and just open it—that’s all—and close it again; then put it back.’ So I went out again, she took a book, opened it and closed it, and put it back. I came in—and nothing to it! It was easy. You just smell the books. It’s hard to explain, because we’re not used to saying things about it. You put each book up to your nose and sniff a few times, and you can tell. It’s very different. A book that’s been standing there a while has a dry, uninteresting kind of smell. But when a hand has touched it, there’s a dampness and a smell that’s very distinct. We did a few more experiments, and I discovered that while bloodhounds are indeed quite capable, humans are not as incapable as they think they are: it’s just that they carry their nose so high off the ground!”
- remarkEon 4y agoWhen I was a kid my doctor discovered that I had planned to join the military, and was devastated as he had imagined me to become a surgeon or physicist, so he gave me Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman as a gift on my 18th birthday - as a way to convince me the military was a bad idea (somehow, I still don't understand why he thought this would work). Anyway, I read it in one weekend, and remember the part you're quoting. I learned things about attention to detail in that book that are very hard to teach. Isn't there another story about how he broke open some safes? I'm remembering as much, at least. I need to read it again. I'm double that age now, so it's about that time.
- salad-tycoon 4y agoWhat I remember is a story about a file cabinet that he wanted unauthorized access to, not exactly a safe but similar.
- pilotneko 4y agoYeah, during the Manhattan Project he broke into everyone’s locked filing cabinets to prove that the security measure was basically for show.