Bob's Reviews > Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman

This book made me cry. Weird, maybe, but true. In Gleick's portrayal of the true genius of Feynman, as well as some of his other contemporary genius physicists.

What made me cry? Reading it was a fundamentally humbling experience. These people are SMART! And not smart like most smart folks--not at all. Growing up, I always had the feeling that, given the time and effort to study something, that I was capable of learning anything. Obviously, one cannot learn everything, but I never, until this book, felt that avenues were not open to me, intellectually. In reading the stories in this book, it became clear to me that these people weren't just more educated than me in their academic specialties, but on an entire (much) higher plane--in some place I could NEVER achieve, no matter how hard I ever could work on it.

In the physical world, skills and capabilities are obvious. No matter how hard any of us train, we will never sprint faster that Usain Bolt. That's more tangible than intellectual barriers, which always felt more approachable to me. Well, this book slammed the door on that idea for me in a very enjoyable, yet humbling way. It was fun to read this book for me because it portray genius in a way that is entertaining to me, much like watching great athletes in the arena plying their trade. What do great physicists talk about and do to advance their field? A great read.