Richard Feynman Essay -- biographies biography bio

Richard Feynman was born on May 11, 1918 in Brooklyn to Lucille and Melville Feynman. Feynman's childhood home was in the community of Far Rockaway, in the outskirts if Manhattan. When Feynman was born, his father, Melville, had already determined that Feynman would grow up to be a scientist. Melville had always dreamed to be a scientist. Unfortunately, Melville's dream was left unsatisfied only to live it through his son. Melville encouraged Feynman not to focus on things he knew, but rather things he did not know. This was the base of Richard Feynman's understanding. Feynman believed sincerely that what was important was not knowing the answers to questions, but instead asking the right questions. He believed that the answers wait patiently to be discovered. Richard Feynman's mother, Lucille, also influenced his future success as a scientist. Lucille taught Feynman to take life lightly and to have a powerful sense of humor. While Melville allowed Feynman the tools to explore his future, Lucille taught him to laugh, take life lightly, and have courage in himself. Both of Feynman's parents played an important role in guiding their son to success. When Feynman grew to be a young man in school, he fell in love with Arline Greenbaum, the girl of his dreams. It didn't take much for Arline to become the most important person in Feynman's life. Arline seemed to share his take on life. It is said that the pair were made for each other. Later in his life, Feynman attended college as a physics major. He finished his first four years in 1939 at MIT, and then moved on to Princeton for graduate school. While at Princeton, Feynman proposed to Arline. The two planned to be married after hecom... ...an Lectures on Physics," was published in 1963 and remains a leading text in physics classes. In "Lectures," Mr. Feynman responded to charges that scientific understanding detracts from an esthetic appreciation of nature: "The vastness of the heavens stretches my imagination -- stuck on this carousel my little eye can catch one-million-year-old light. A vast pattern -- of which I was a part -- perhaps my stuff was belched from some forgotten star, as one is belching there . . . It does not do harm to the mystery to know a little about it. Far more marvelous is the truth than any artists of the past imagined!" Mr. Feynman leaves his wife, Gweneth; a son, Carl; a daughter, Michelle, and a sister, Joan Feynman. A memorial service will be held at a later date.