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Richard Feynman (1918-1988) is known in Physics circles as "The Great Explainer". A popular lecturer, he was known for his wit and ability to explain difficult, nay impossible, concepts. Often, though, this explanation will still leave the listener bewildered. It is important to know that it is OK not to understand fully. In fact, if you think you completely understand something in physics, it is a pretty good indicator that you know nothing at all.....
"While I am describing to you how Nature works, you won't understand why Nature works that way. But you see, nobody understands that. " -R.P. Feynman, in QED.
Richard Feynman Messenger Lectures (1964)
In these Messenger Lectures on "The Character of Physical Law," originally delivered at Cornell University in 1964, physicist Richard Feynman offers an overview of selected physical laws and gathers their common features into one broad principle of invariance. He maintains at the outset that the importance of a physical law is not "how clever we are to have found it out, but...how clever nature is to pay attention to it," and tends his discussions toward a final exposition of the elegance and simplicity of all scientific laws.
From 1945 to 1950, Feynman taught theoretical physics at Cornell. He went on to accept a professorship at Caltech and was named co-winner of the 1965 Nobel Prize in physics for his contribution to the renormalization of quantum electrodynamics.
These 7 lectures are a fine example of Feynman's ability to discuss difficult physics concepts at a level accessible to almost anyone. All of the talks presented on this page are intended for a general audience (like you!) He is also quite funny, if you listen for the jokes!
Lecture 1: The Law of Gravitation (an example of a Physical Law)
Lecture 2: The Relation of Mathematics to Physics
Lecture 3: The Great Conservation Principles
Lecture 4: Symmetry in Physical Law
Lecture 5: The Distinction of Past and Future
Lecture 6: The Quantum Mechanical View of Nature
Lecture 7: Seeking New Laws
QED: Lectures on Quantum Electrodynamics
The Sir Douglas Robb Lectures, University of Auckland, 1979. A gentle lead-in to the subject, Feynman starts by discussing photons and their properties. These 4 lectures were originally given as the Sir Douglas Robb lectures at the University of Auckland, New Zealand in 1979. Videotapes of these lectures were made publicly available on a not-for-profit basis in 1996.
Lecture 1: Corpuscles of Light
Lecture 2: Fits of Reflection and Transmission
Lecture 3: Electrons and their Interactions
Lecture 4: New Queries
Los Alamos From Below
This lecture/interview is audio only (though the YouTuber has provided some excellent relevant pictures). In this lecture, Feynman describes his time working for the Manhattan Project!
There are many more lectures and documentaries out there about this great physicist and many of his colleagues- if you have an interest in History of Science, and not just science, you should check them out!
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