I first encountered Richard Feynman through his 'Fun To Imagine' series as a teenager (the series is fully available on YouTube). He has a talent for making complex physics immediately accessible, and the series is definitely worth your the time—if not for what he says, then for the way he says it.

This book covers six fundamental concepts: atomic motion, basic physics, physics' relationship to other sciences, energy conservation, gravitation, and quantum behavior—all explained in Feynman's characteristic conversational style.

While the book succeeds in explaining these topics, some extremely well (like the final chapter 'quantum behaviour'), its lecture-based content sometimes works against its mass-market aims. The 'Basic Physics' chapter exemplifies this issue: it rushes from basic electromagnetism straight into an extensive list of quantum particles (strangeness, leptons, mesons, etc.) merely to conclude that "This, then, is the horrible condition of physics today." It's a bit of dramatic flair, and while that approach might work well in a lecture, in book form it feels more like a missed opportunity (and wasted space!).

Explanations, too, sometimes feel poorly written, using terms before they are defined. Again, it is a defect of more casual speech or a lecture that does not translate well to a book.

I would have loved to have liked this book more. This particular experience won't stop me from continuing to read through the rest of his works.

3/5