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I've been on a kick about this guy for a while. I bought a biography titled Genius by James Gleick about 10 years
ago, and finally got around to reading it. I'm in a different place in my life now, and needed this reflection to sort of
balance things out. There's a lot of physics and math in the book that is beyond me, but the story of the man is truly
inspirational. Here's a guy who was thought to be "the next Einstein," and had to sort of deal with his own contention that
he was anything but. He was a trickster, a devoted husband, a tinkerer, and a person whose curiosity led him to places few
people ever get to. His last great feat was untangling the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster shortly before succumbing to
a final bout of several different forms of cancer (caused, more than likely, by his involvement with the Manhattan Project)
converging. After finishing Genius, I continued with the two books published under his name in his lifetime which
he didn't actually write. They are volumes of anecdotes and stories from his colorful life that were transcribed and edited.
The first takes its title from a comment given to him whenever he made social faux pas in college, "Surely You're Joking,
Mr. Feynman!" The second is a comment his wife made repeatedly when he was losing heart:"What Do YOU Care What People
Think?" He was no saint, but he certainly is worth consideration in the "hero" category. Curiosity and application of
skill or talent goes a long way in life, and takes you places you wanted to, but never expected to, go.
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