Amazon.com Widgets

« It's Time to Start Singing | Main | Links With Your Coffee - Monday »

Richard Feynman - Ode on a Flower

Richard Feynman on the appreciation of nature. Video is from 1981 BBC Interview. The interview is also the subject of Feynman's book The Pleasure of Finding Things Out My favorite book by Richard is Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!


Quicktime Video 1.44MB 1'26
Quicktime 7 required
Share this post:
digg del.icio.us reddit Newsvine FaceBook Stumble Upon

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://onegoodmove.org/movabletype/mt-tb.cgi/1752

Comments

Now this man makes me excited about science because he's humble and he's clear about his conviction that aren't that of a angry zealot, but a calm person that knows what he's talking about. This took years of sacrifice to achieve. You know ... school and work.

Now, why can't we have anyone that deals with public policy inspire us like this man. Now I speak for myself but I have a feeling that others might agree. The power of science or politics not only stems from it's effect it has on others through it's actions but, on a deeper level, the seed it plants in our minds that we could get involved because of its ideas. That's why this country suffers. We can't always blame the few in power for their stupidity and short-sighteness. We must also blame the few for failing to inspire us but instead repulse us from ever getting involved in their bullshit.

This is great, thanks for the post. I just finished reading "Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman!" about a month ago and loved it. I've also read a couple of his other books. He's exactly right. Dawkin's "Unweaving the rainbow" is another great account of this idea. I feel that this 'beauty in ignorance' idea is itself, simply, ignorant.

I remember watching this entire episode on BBC TV a while ago. It's really worth reading his books too "What do you care what other people think?" and "Surely you're joking Mr. Feynman".

This guy had both his feet on the ground. He said something to the effect of not being afraid of the unknown and that it was easier for him to not know the answer to some questions than to just attribute the answer to whim of some supreme being. It was OK to not know the answer and all that means is that we haven't asked the right questions yet.

Feynman's artist friend is not that smart. Understanding science helps an artist to be a better artist. There are a lot of ignorant, arrogant artists out there. To paint the human body, it is best to study anatomy. To paint clouds, it is best to understand condensation and to know what a cumulonimbus cloud is. This does not subtract from understanding the beauty. It is a must for understanding the beauty.

I once read a book called The Immence Journey by a man named Loren Eisley.

Eisley was a palentologist who saw the beaty, saw the science, and the beaty of the science at the same time. Remarkable book

Beauty being in the eye of the beholder, some people don't see the beauty in the cells of a flower. Reducing a flower to the processes of its cells requires more than simply beholding a flower. It requires learning complex scientific jargon and mathematics and such that may be of little interest to the artist.

The creepiest portion of the film "pi" was when the mathematician stares of at the leaves on a tree as though he were trying to understand the tree mathematically.

The process of looking at a flower can go from beholding to bewildering sometimes.

Nothing said in interview suggested that the artist needs to study botany to appreciate the beauty of the flower. What is being pointed out, is that knowing more than meets the eye, in no way lessens the perception of beauty.

It's an argument against the all too common assumption that understanding the underlying mechanisms of the flower, of cloud formation, or the chemicals that create the colours of the sunset, will some how destroy the perception of beauty.

Ahh, so this is how the interview went. You see, Feynmann's BBC interview is transcribed in his wonderful book The Pleasure of Finding Things Out. It's one thing to read his thoughts on the flower, it's quite another to hear (and see) him say it. Much thanks!

Support This Site


support OGM

powells.gif


advertise_liberally.gif

Google Ads


MarsEdit: Powerful Blog Authoring Made Simple.

Onegoodmove Picks

Books I'm currently reading, and have recently read.



All purchases made at Amazon through these links contribute to support this site. Thanks for your help.

Front Page
 

Copyright © 2002-2008 Norman Jenson

Contact


Commenting Policy

note: non-authenticated comments are moderated, you can avoid the delay by registering.

Random Quotation

Recent Comments

jonathan becker on:
Bill Maher on Politics

leftbanker on:
President Jimmy Carter - Energy

Viajero on:
Bill Maher on Religion

jonathan becker on:
Links With Your Coffee - Tuesday

philosopher's tone as 1.22474 on:
Charles Darwin

jonathan becker on:
More Kindle

philosopher's tone as 1.22474 on:
Links With Your Coffee - Sunday

philosopher's tone as 1.22474 on:
McCain's Mansions

biff_rhodes on:
A Book For You

JoAnn on:
Links With Your Coffee - Thursday

Brian Donohue on:
Links With Your Coffee - Saturday

madfarmer on:
The Sunday Funnies

Abhilash Nambiar on:
John McCain, Dancing Queen

Tim on:
Ron Suskind

Susan on:
John McCain Steals From Wikipedia

Individual Archives

Monthly Archives

Favorite Links

Advertise Liberally Blogroll

All Spin Zone
AMERICAblog
AmericanStreet
ArchPundit
BAGNewsnotes
The Bilerico Project
BlogACTIVE
BluegrassReport
Bluegrass Roots
Blue Indiana
BlueJersey
Blue Mass.Group
BlueOregon
BlueNC
Brendan Calling
BRAD Blog
Buckeye State Blog
Chris Floyd
Clay Cane
Calitics
CliffSchecter
ConfinedSpace
culturekitchen
David Corn
Dem Bloggers
Democrats.com
Deride and Conquer
Democratic Underground
Digby
DovBear
Drudge Retort
Ed Cone
ePluribis Media
Eschaton
Ezra Klein
Feministe
Firedoglake
Fired Up
First Draft
Frameshop
GreenMountain Daily
Greg Palast
Hoffmania
Horse's Ass
Hughes for America
In Search of Utopia
Is That Legal?
Jesus' General
Jon Swift
Keystone Politics
Kick! Making PoliticsFun
KnoxViews
Lawyers, Guns and Money
Left Coaster
Left in the West
Liberal Avenger
Liberal Oasis
Loaded Orygun
MaxSpeak
Media Girl
Michigan Liberal
MinnesotaCampaign Report
Minnesota Monitor
My Left Nutmeg
My Two Sense
Nathan Newman
Needlenose
Nevada Today
News Dissector
News Hounds
Nitpicker
Oliver Willis
onegoodmove
PageOneQ
Pam's House Blend
Pandagon
PinkDome
Politics1
PoliticalAnimal
Political Wire
Poor Man Institute
Prairie State Blue
Progressive Historians
Raising Kaine
Raw Story
Reno Discontent
Republic of T
Rhode Island's Future
Rochester Turning
Rocky Mountain Report
Rod 2.0
Rude Pundit
Sadly, No!
Satirical Political Report
Shakesville
SirotaBlog
SistersTalk
Slacktivist
SmirkingChimp
SquareState
Suburban Guerrilla
Swing State Project
Talking Points Memo
Tapped
Tattered Coat
The Albany Project
The Blue State
The Carpetbagger Report
The Democratic Daily
The Hollywood Liberal
The Talent Show
This Modern World
Town Called Dobson
Wampum
WashBlog
Watching the Watchers
West Virginia Blue
Young Philly Politics
Young Turks