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the sham legacy of Richard Feynman

Angela Collier · 1.2M views · 2024-11-28 · 2:48:11

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Overview

Physicist Angela Collier's nearly three-hour critique of Richard Feynman's public legacy. She examines how his books, written with Ralph Leighton, shaped a mythologized great-man image, and covers his personal behavior.

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HN recommends it as a sobering counterpoint to the Feynman myth for people whose view comes from Surely You're Joking.

Recommended by 5 HN people across 3 months · HN mentions 2024–2025

Topics

Fundamental physicsScientific method & science communicationTech pioneers & interviews
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feynmanangela collierphysics historygreat man mythsurely you're joking

What people said

artifact_44 · 2025-02 · Strong recommendation

Because she thoroughly de-articulates the fabricated mystique around Feynman, and openly discusses the toxic effect his legacy has had on science. (Including the fact that a lot of his legacy was fabricated by people that either admired him, or wished to capitalize on that legacy.) Her video on Feynman is long and detailed, and very sobering. I highly recommend it. It absolutely/expertly challenged everything I thought I knew about him. [VIDEO]

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renhanxue · 2025-06 · Recommendation

Astrophysicist Angela Collier's video essay "the sham legacy of Richard Feynman" [0] is a good introduction. Her accounts of her own encounters with "Feynman bros" are heart-wrenching. [0] [VIDEO]

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tovej · 2025-02 · Recommendation

He hasn't written a single book (surprising I know), I assume you're talking about "Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman", which contains exaggerated anecdotes designed to make Feynman look like a hero. That one was written by a fanboy (Ralph Leighton) based on stories that Feynman told him, which have been revealed to be either fake or exaggerations (they found notes in his office of him writing and rewriting these hero stories). It's a terrible book, in my opinion. If you want to know why, Angela Collier says it better and in more detail than I could: [VIDEO] Is that the video you're referring to? Watch the video and I think you'll see why he is "getting a bad rep these days".

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Sources

Video by Angela Collier , played through YouTube.

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