The Jaguar and the Fox (2000)

> Up quarks, down quarks, strange quarks, charmed quarks, top quarks, bottom quarks -- in addition to these six "flavors," quarks come in three "colors": red, green, and blue. There is no end to the inventiveness that has become part of the subculture of particle physics.

Or the confusion suffered by many a layman (or young student) when encountering these for the first time.

> Still the overeager schoolboy, he pronounced foreign words perfectly and corrected new acquaintances on the pronunciation of their own names.

Can't imagine why that wouldn't make someone popular.

> Gell-Mann had become notorious for his bad temper. Among his cronies, the nasty names he coined for rivals were as familiar as the catchy terminology he applied to particles. Leon Lederman was "the plumber," because he was an experimenter rather than a theorist. The distinguished theorists C. N. Yang and T. D. Lee were "those two Chinamen from New York."

How dare his contemporaries not exalt him as he'd like to be exalted.

> "I'm writing a book for peasants," Gell-Mann would say dismissively.

And that's why Feynman is a household name (well, or much better known name) and Gell-Mann is not.

Gell-Mann may well have been the more accomplished physicist, but Feynman was the one that had the ability to explain the things he understood in ways that idiots like me could almost follow.

The stories of Feynman embody a lot of the traits I respect the most -- curiosity, fun, a kind of unsettled creative energy and a complete disregard for putting on airs. Gell-Mann embodies a lot of the traits I dislike the most.

Favorite quote:

  "The intimidatingly smart top players in particle physics compete on a
  level playing field. The field is also rather constricted, with only a
  few big ideas being batted around at any one time. Most prizewinning
  discoveries are made by two or more thinkers simultaneously. What makes
  one a superstar and relegates another to obscurity often depends less on
  the work itself than on political acumen."

I find it interesting how the glamor of physics has ebbed over time and wonder how that's affected the level of competition.

(2000)

Feynman would never have the popularity today that had then. Roguishness would've tanked him.

We're living in a time now when scientists are made to cry for wearing a shirt with drawings of women.