Dr. Feynman's Messenger Lectures

I'm sure, if you read the newsrecently, that Microsoft Research has begun hosting seven of Dr. Feynman's famous Messenger Lectures he gave at Cornell University in 1964. I'm sure its all a clever plot to get people to install Silverlight and get a feel for their Tuva Project, but I've found the lectures themselves to be excellent. I've been familiar with Dr. Feynman since reading his biography,Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!, and having the opportunity to hear his Massachusetts accent explain the intricacies of physics is just great. Here are the seven topics he covers:

• Lecture 1: Law of Gravitation -- An Example of Physical Law
• Lecture 2: The Relation of Mathematics and Physics
• Lecture 3: The Great Conservation Principles
• Lecture 4: Symmetry in Physical Law
• Lecture 5: The Distinction of Past and Future
• Lecture 6: Probability and Uncertainty -- The Quantum Mechanical View of Nature
• Lecture 7: Seeking New Laws

Now, I don't want to give a biography of Richard Feynman, there are many books on that and his work in theoretical physics. But I do want to say how useful his insight was to physics, and even to researchers in other fields, today. I've watched the first few lectures, already, and they have really encouraged me to take a step back and look at some of the problems that I'm facing holistically, and try to get a handle of the bigger picture of what is going on.

It is very easy to get bogged down in one paper or one specific nuance of an area and really lose a grasp on what it means in the larger scheme of the field, i.e. not being able to see the forest for the trees, or the breakthrough for the potential articles, rather. Many times, we must, instead of picking a "side" and sticking to it, juggle between a few opposing ideas for how to approach a problem. Many times it is because we just don't have the proof as to which one is the more "correct" approach. We must always remember that if we care about pursuing truth at all, then we have to lose the desire to compete one approach against another.

I recently got into this problem with my own work. Without realizing it, in my own mind I had begun championing a certain method, even though it hadn't exactly produced on its claims. There were some advances that existed in an “opposing” method, and I found myself rejecting the insight of the other method because somehow I had to make this one I was working on better on its own. Part of the resulting solution was a fusion of the two, something that I only came to after I resolved the fact in my head that these two methods weren't competing for some fanciful gold medal, but the most accurate way of looking at the situation drew from both insights.

Beyond explaining some fundamentals of Physics, this is the sort of thinking that I see Dr. Feynman promoting within this lecture series. I would encourage you all to take some time of the next couple of weeks and just start watching these lectures. I learned a lot about Physics and the nature of research, and I'm sure you will, as well!