I have just rediscovered this great human being. One of the most influential scientists of his generation.  I fondly remember listening to his recorded lectures during my university days. This man was amazing. There are many stories and facts about him that inspire me (and others).

He wasn’t just the scientist; he wasn’t just the educator. He was a good man, with a beautiful mind that was able to bridge the gap between those that knew about complex concepts of science, to those that wanted to know. He was able to describe the detail in layman’s terms, but also urge people to appreciate the beauty that is inherent in nature and the things that really matter.

But today’s rediscovery went further. The insight was that being successful doesn’t have to be about one thing, such as your career, your business or even the amount of wealth abundance you have amassed in your life. It’s a balance between these things, and those that make us truly human and unique. Richard Feynman was a beautifully complex human being. A bongo playing genius, that was outspoken in urging people to see the important things in life.

A letter to Mrs Chown is a perfect example of this.
Marcus Chown, who had admired Feynman, was eager to get his mother to be more interested in science. So he asked Feynman to write to his mother, with the aim of inspiring an increased interest in the sciences.  Amazingly Feynman, went to the trouble of doing this… but the letter was not quite what Marcus had expected. It goes as follows: –

“Dear Mrs Chown, Ignore your son’s attempts to teach you physics. Physics isn’t the most important thing. Love is.
Best wishes, Richard Feynman.”

Wow… he knew the truth.
I hear you Richard Feynman!
I hear you!

He passed away 15th February 1988… but his ideas, inspiration and success as a full rounded human being live on.


Image attribution: The image above is licensed under the terms of the license Creative Commons Attribution 3.0  ( CC-BY-3.0 ) 
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