1918-1988

American Physicist

Richard Feynman's brilliance is legendary. His method was once described as: "You write down the problem. You think very hard. Then you write down the answer." Feynman contributed significantly to our understanding of quantum mechanics, which describes the behavior of minuscule particles. He gave science a way to visualize the motion of these particles and a deeper understanding of why and how they behave the way they do. For this work he shared a Nobel Prize in 1965. His own quirks and eccentricities, however, were almost as important as those of the particles he studied; Feynman's insubordinate spirit gave the physics world a lesson in the value of questioning authority.

Richard Feynman. (The Library of Congress. Reproduced with permission.)

Feynman was introduced to science at an early age, growing up in Far Rockaway, New York. In his books, he fondly remembers his...