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Comment by adamnemecek | Hacker News Reader

Feynman lectures are the SICP of physics. Out of date, not all that relevant but fetishized to death.

I think people just like to make this kind of comment to sound deliberately contrarian. And smarter than they really are, also.

Can you elaborate on what is "out of date" or "not all that relevant" about the books?

What a lot of people miss about these books is the joy and wonder Feynman brings to the subject. There are a dime a dozen more appropriate books to study for in preparation for university exams for example. And while they contain fascinating material, they tend to be quite dry & drab in their presentation.

Feynman's infectious love of physics and exploration really shines in these volumes and for me that gives them value in a different way to most textbooks. There is more to life than passing university exams and if someone can make a subject like this both accessible & enjoyable that is quite a remarkable achievement in my opinion

Out of date? Sure.

But it still adds very valuable insights, and new perspectives. Feynman Lectures are great. Especially Vols I and II.

Just because something has a community fetishizing it, it does not lose its value because of that.

I read most of Feynman Lectures in my undergrad, and the experience was profoundly rewarding.

It is not about gaining up-to-date knowledge of the topic. It is about learning the core and crux of the subject, and how to think about the subject.

As a layperson to physics, I really appreciate his approachable style, both in writing and in speech. Do you have any suggestions that are as approachable and fun for technologists interested in physics?

Khan Academy hands down.

Mainly because they give you a map and a road map if you will to explore the subject. Long way to go to improve the map and ways to explore it based on individual personality and skill levels but that will happen with time.

Khan academy is great, but nothing is quite like listening to a certified genius.

I think that is part of it. You can catch glimmers of how Feynman thought process worked. How he sees the world. And that is really cool.

Physics from symmetry is good.

You don't listen to Feynman because you want the most efficient way to prepare for your Physics exam, or because you want to hear about the latest developments.

You listen to him because he was one of the greatest minds of the century, as well as a very entertaining and charismatic speaker.

It's not hard to see why that combination of qualities attracts a lot of people.

Some of the accompanying problems are not bad preparation for quals. They are like the ones on the old UChicago quals

In what sense are they out of date? Like vol 2 is electrodynamics, the basics didn't change much. Do you think there is a newer textbook which does not actually teach the same content but newer things? Could you name that book?

SICP is more relevant than ever depending on where in the stack you are working on.

It’s really not.

Well that solves that.

883 pages. What is the book for dummies, like myself? I can put up websites, but definitely need more education on Programming.

Or, what are the must know chapters in Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programming should I study?

How to Design Programs (the 2nd edition)—<https://htdp.org>—is more recent and more approachable, but in some ways follows in the footsteps of SICP. It's a great place to start before digging in to SICP or one of the other "classics," but it's also a good choice even if you just want to read one book.

I’d suggest reading from the foreword and working through chapters 1-3. You’ll know if you want to finish by then.

It’s a really fun read; it’s an exercise in thinking differently. If you’re looking for a new/different perspective on programming this is it.

People either love or hate this book, but it’s popular for a reason. It’s not uncommon to struggle a bit through the exercises. Some people dislike it for this reason.

The intro CS course I took waded based on this book and I never even saw this book. It wasn’t until after the course was over that I found, read, and worked through (most) of it. I took my time with it—a little each day.

It’ll definitely grant you some “aha!” moments.

And it is totally worth it to do the exercises.

Start with The Little Schemer [1] as a prequel to SICP. If you're going to read SICP, look at the beautiful (and unofficial) typeset version [2].

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Little-Schemer-Daniel-P-Friedman/dp/0...

[2] http://sarabander.github.io/sicp/

You can also take the course programming languages from the University of Washington on Coursera. The 3 courses use standard ML, racket and ruby to teach concepts a learned programmer should know.

Personally I would not learn physics for the first time from the Feynman lectures. The Feynman lectures are aimed at senior undergrads who already took advanced physics, in my opinion. I read the Feynman lectures after I took advanced physics courses, and I got a lot more out of it than I would have at first I think.

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