I've now read three or four Richard P. Feynman books, and they do sometimes contain the same material here and there -- overlap a bit at the seams it seems. But I did enjoy this one just as well. And I don't mind the reminders. And how could you pass up a book with such a presumptuous title anyway -- turns out, that title is a bit tongue in cheek. Feynman talks around the subject with great skill, humor and intelligence, but does he give you the everlasting definitive? Not really; but it's quite okay, because what he does give you is a great deal of food for thought. And in the event that "thought" is the "meaning of it all" then you're well on your way.

In previous books which include speeches of his, I've been so amazed by his ability to explain in splendid detail and example rather fuzzy concepts. I'm simply amazed at his word usage in speech. And he's brilliant here as well, with a few expectations. There are some passages that I read over and over and finally decided that it wasn't just my simple mind that couldn't make sense out of them -- that it was, in fact, his explanation shortcomings (and/or the separation of his words from the actual delivery).

Still, it's a fun book that looks at the unscientific sort of messy way authorities have been trying to make sense out of life through the centuries. I enjoyed it immensely as I have his other writings.

Quotes:
"If English professors will complain to me that the students who come to the universities, after all those years of study, still cannot spell "friend," I say to them that something’s the matter with the way you spell friend."

“Why do we grapple with problems? We are only in the beginning. We have plenty of time to solve the problems. The only way that we will make a mistake is that in the impetuous youth of humanity we will decide we know the answer. This is it. No one else can think of anything else. And we will jam. We will confine man to the limited imagination of today’s human beings.”

Read more Book Reviews by Author/Illustrator Ross Anthony.