Part 4: An Offer You Must Refuse Summary and Analysis

Both CalTech and Cornell want to keep Professor Feynman on staff, so they get into a sort of "bidding war" over him, each trying to "one-up" the other, in terms of pay, benefits, and working conditions. Feynman keeps drifting back and forth between the two indecisively.

He decides he prefers working at Caltech (since everyone there is working in the sciences and because it is in a major city). He finally decides he will permanently stay at Caltech, no matter what kind of offer he receives elsewhere—he commits to a life as a CalTech professor.

Later, the University of Chicago attempts to recruit him, but Feynman refuses to hear their offer, since he has decided to remain at CalTech. He later learns Chicago wants to offer him a salary...