The thread that can be followed throughout the series of lectures is the value of scepticism. Scepticism and doubt kept science sane for centuries. After describing what he considers the essence of science, Feynman tries to answer several questions arising at the boundary between science and the society. Is there a conflict between science and religion? Can science be applied to moral and ethical questions? How can the inspirational value of religion be preserved when the belief in God is uncertain? In the last lecture, Feynman elaborates some abuses of statistics he encountered, like mixing up the probability with the possibility, a posteriori statistical reasoning etc.

The book will probably first and foremost attract Feynman devotees, who already have all the other books he has written and cannot miss one. The book also reflects some of the atmosphere of the cold war 60's, so it might be of some interest for those who either lived in that era or have some special historic interest in it. But aside from this, no collection of Feynman's papers published after his death has ever reached the mastership of books he actively prepared.


Somewhat disjointed, but a thought-provoking read.   July 4, 2000
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This book undoubtedly suffers from not being a unified work but rather the text of a series of lectures given by Feynman; his thoughts span a wide range of areas, concentrating on the relationship between science and society and public perceptions of science. Feynman doesn't pretend to be an expert on many of the topics he addresses; the book merely outlines some of his perspectives on the world, and as such is a worthwhile read.