Hedgehogs, Foxes and Feynman

Freeman Dyson reviews the recently published collection of Feynman's letters, collected by his daughter Michelle. The essay is long, but worth reading in full. I feel Dyson underrates Feynman a bit, and his classification of thinkers as hedgehogs (Einstein) or foxes (Feynman) is too black and white. Our scientific activities are shaped by the questions of our day. Einstein had the opportunity to solve foundational puzzles (the problems and data were at hand) -- did Feynman? (Also true of Dirac, who Dyson rates as a "greater genius" than Feynman.) Certainly, Feynman had broad interests, but it is also clear that he kept returning to deeper issues like turbulence (strangely not classified as a deep issue at the time), interpretation of quantum mechanics (EPR, probability, etc.) and quantum gravity. I might add that 100 years from now his early interest in quantum computing could be remembered as particularly significant. Although he didn't develop any key algorithms (or even, if I recall correctly, explore the notion of universal quantum computers built from simple gates), he was the first to note the exponential power of quantum computers and the qualitative difference between quantum and classical computing.

Why should we care about Feynman? What was so special about him? Why did he become a public icon, standing with Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking as the Holy Trinity of twentieth-century physics? The public has demonstrated remarkably good taste in choosing its icons. All three of them are genuinely great scientists, with flashes of true genius as well as solid accomplishments to their credit. But to become an icon, it is not enough to be a great scientist. There are many other scientists, not so great as Einstein but greater than Hawking and Feynman, who did not become icons. Paul Dirac is a good example of a scientist greater than Feynman. Feynman always said, whenever the opportunity arose, that the "space-time approach" that led him to his new way of doing particle physics was directly borrowed from a paper of Dirac's.[6] That was true. Dirac had the original idea and Feynman made it into a useful practical tool. Dirac was the greater genius. But Dirac did not become an icon because he had no wish to be an icon and no talent for entertaining the public. Scientists who become icons must not only be geniuses but also performers, playing to the crowd and enjoying public acclaim. Einstein and Feynman both grumbled about the newspaper and radio reporters who invaded their privacy, but both gave the reporters what the public wanted, sharp and witty remarks that would make good headlines. Hawking in his unique way also enjoys the public adulation that his triumph over physical obstacles has earned for him. I will never forget the joyful morning in Tokyo when Hawking went on a tour of the streets in his wheelchair and the Japanese crowds streamed after him, stretching out their hands to touch his chair. Einstein, Hawking, and Feynman shared an ability to break through the barriers that separated them from ordinary people. The public responded to them because they were regular guys, jokers as well as geniuses. The third quality that is needed for a scientist to become a public icon is wisdom. Besides being a famous joker and a famous genius, Feynman was also a wise human being whose answers to serious questions made sense. To me and to hundreds of other students who came to him for advice, he spoke truth. Like Einstein and Hawking, he had come through times of great suffering, nursing Arline through her illness and watching her die, and emerged stronger. Behind his enormous zest and enjoyment of life was an awareness of tragedy, a knowledge that our time on earth is short and precarious. The public made him into an icon because he was not only a great scientist and a great clown but also a great human being and a guide in time of trouble. Other Feynman books have portrayed him as a scientific wizard and as a storyteller. This collection of letters shows us for the first time the son caring for his father and mother, the father caring for his wife and children, the teacher caring for his students, the writer replying to people throughout the world who wrote to him about their problems and received his full and undivided attention.