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Feynman's Hughes Lectures: 950 pages of notes

200 points by gnubison

by molteanu

12 subcomments

I never understood the appeal of Feynman and these Lectures. It has been a constant topic for years around here.
For example, the Electricity and Magnetism book by Purcell is phenomenal but it is hardly ever mentioned. To quote wikipedia,
Electricity and Magnetism is a standard textbook in electromagnetism originally written by Nobel laureate Edward Mills Purcell in 1963. Along with David Griffiths' Introduction to Electrodynamics, this book is one of the most widely adopted undergraduate textbooks in electromagnetism. A Sputnik-era project funded by the National Science Foundation grant, the book is influential for its use of relativity in the presentation of the subject at the undergraduate level. In 1999, it was noted by Norman Foster Ramsey Jr. that the book was widely adopted and has many foreign translations.
Something mysterious is going on here.

by zkmon

0 subcomment

I'm saving these files, not for the content, but just to admire the hard work that has gone into writing these pages - all in capital letters with fantastic drawings and equations. These are like pieces of renaissance art.

by gnubison

0 subcomment

To clarify, these aren’t the normal Feynman lectures. He lectured at a different institution and the author of this webpage transcribed those lectures to produce this set of notes. The content covered is different from the famous set of lectures.
The normal Feynman lectures are here: https://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/

by k2enemy

2 subcomments

Almost a thousand pages of presumably well thought out and neatly written notes. For lectures, and not even his own research. I'm always amazed at the productivity and output of the great ones.

by bvan

0 subcomment

Thanks for sharing. This is the best HN post of 2025 as far as my humble self is concerned.

by queuebert

0 subcomment

Malcolm Longair's books are really what most people who want to read the Feynman lectures should read.

0 subcomment

by joebig

0 subcomment