Are you joking, Mr. Garrido?
With this question, or something similar, many scientists and/or educators responded to me a year ago when I proposed the challenge of a book with the Feynman Lectures as the central theme.
I say “the challenge,” and I think I say it well since my proposal was:
About what?SCIENCE, and other “Easy Pieces”
It has been 60 years since the Feynman Lectures, and the idea was to gather a good group of authors (women and men) with one text each, where they would develop their opinion on how much the Lectures on Physics have influenced physics education in recent decades, then move on to pay their personal tribute to the person (teacher, family member, etc.) who played a decisive role in instilling their scientific vocation. It would end with a basic, popular explanation of that “Easy Piece” (phenomenon, theory, experiment, etc.) that marked them to dedicate themselves to Physics (or any other basic science).
An example of that “Easy Piece” in my case was when I was explained (by Mr. Ricardo) the non-existence of a force (outward) when a car turns a curve (seen from outside the car) and understanding that “centrifugal force” when it is seen (observed and studied) from inside the car. I think I understood it and was able to explain it so that others at home understood it.
Preface by Kip S. Thorne (updated to May 2022):
https://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/I_90.html
In the end, as you will appreciate in the reading, the terms of this proposal have not been “very strict,” and each author is enjoyed in “their own style.”
And to all this, we must add a fundamental point, present in the entire “SCIENCE, and…” collection, of which this “Easy Pieces” is the 6th. This point is: “and with the altruistic participation of everyone so that the book is available for online reading and free PDF download (Creative Commons License)”.
I cannot thank all the authors enough for their participation, their good disposition, and great patience with the many suggestions and messages I have sent them. Also, to all those who, for various reasons, generally due to workload and prior commitments, and much to their regret, could not participate.
Among those who could not participate, I wanted to highlight two great scientists who had much to do with the birth of this project:
- Esperanza López, from the IFT, to whom I owe the “Wandering Idea” of this book. In November 2022, I attended a talk she gave at the Residencia de Estudiantes (Madrid): On UNCERTAINTY in Physics: Classical Chaos and Quantum Mechanics
https://youtu.be/1vT3zngS0So?si=lr1JT2EPccAq6auG
and, more or less, at minute 30 of this talk, Esperanza shows a short video of one of Feynman’s lectures. Days later, while organizing a shelf in my library, my eyes fixed on “Six Easy Pieces,” and I remembered it was about some classes Feynman had given, and I saw that it was practically the same period as the talk Esperanza had shown us. And it has already been 60 years since all this!
Could it be the time to pay tribute to Feynman’s “Easy Pieces” and all good educators in general?
- I shared this question/“wandering idea” with José Edelstein, IGFAE, who gave me his favorable opinion and, although he could not participate, encouraged me to reflect on it, make it attractive to potential participants, and carry it out.
During the “prospecting” of participants, I contacted Julia Moreno (JuliaArt), and she was encouraged to participate. I cannot find the words to thank her for the wonderful paintings she has made expressly for this project, altruistically like the rest of the participants, and which I believe very accurately reflect the “spirit” of this entire project.
I wanted to expressly thank Virginia Trimble for her participation (and of course Vicent Martínez, as thanks to him we have Virginia’s participation).
I want to end these lines with a very personal reflection/request. I would like to convey the idea of the importance of fostering scientific vocations, in general, and Physics in particular, at an early age. From these lines, I advocate and encourage the relevant entities to implement a state program for the STimulation of TALent for PHysics (STALPHYS) aimed at secondary education youth. And that this STALPHYS has continuity with the possibility of access to the University in a priority manner, a certain percentage of access places with the consideration of “High Capacity for Physics” where traditional access grades take a back seat in terms of weighting. I firmly believe that “Without Science, there is no Future.”
And allow me to close by thanking David, Pablo, and Teresa for your support, understanding, and above all patience in all those moments when I get “very insistent” about SCIENCE.
Madrid, May 2024.
Quintín Garrido
This article is part of the book SCIENCE and other “Easy Pieces”.
