Themakingofascientist

!"# !#%&' (!"# )*+,-. /0 * 12,#-&,3&45 6#7-8*-4 9,2"*:;< =>!?
1
8efore l was born, my faLher Lold my moLher, lf lL's a boy, he's golng Lo be a
sclenLlsL."
1
When l was [usL a llLLle kld, very small ln a hlghchalr, my faLher broughL home a loL
of llLLle baLhroom Llles-seconds-of dlfferenL colors. We played wlLh Lhem, my faLher seLLlng
Lhem up verLlcally on my hlghchalr llke domlnoes, and l would push one end so Lhey would all
go down.
1hen afLer a whlle, l'd help seL Lhem up. reLLy soon, we're seLLlng Lhem up ln a more
compllcaLed way: Lwo whlLe Llles and a blue Llle, Lwo whlLe Llles and a blue Llle, and so on.
When my moLher saw LhaL she sald, Leave Lhe poor chlld alone. lf he wanLs Lo puL a blue Llle,
leL hlm puL a blue Llle."
8uL my faLher sald, no, l wanL Lo show hlm whaL paLLerns are llke and how
lnLeresLlng Lhey are. lL's a klnd of elemenLary maLhemaLlcs." So he sLarLed very early Lo Lell
me abouL Lhe world and how lnLeresLlng lL ls.
We had Lhe !"#$#%&'()*+( -.+/(""+#( aL home. When l was a small boy he used Lo slL
me on hls lap and read Lo me from Lhe -.+/(""+#(. We would be readlng, say, abouL dlnosaurs.
lL would be Lalklng abouL Lhe 0$.(""&1(2.21 .)3, and lL would say someLhlng llke, 1hls
dlnosaur ls LwenLy-flve feeL hlgh and lLs head ls slx feeL across."
My faLher would sLop readlng and say, now, leL's see whaL LhaL means. 1haL would
mean LhaL lf he sLood ln our fronL yard, he would be Lall enough Lo puL hls head Lhrough our
wlndow up here." (We were on Lhe second floor.) 8uL hls head would be Loo wlde Lo flL ln
Lhe wlndow." LveryLhlng he read Lo me he would LranslaLe as besL he could lnLo some reallLy.
lL was very exclLlng and very, very lnLeresLlng Lo Lhlnk Lhere were anlmals of such
magnlLude-and LhaL Lhey all dled ouL, and LhaL nobody knew why. l wasn'L frlghLened LhaL
Lhere would be one comlng ln my wlndow as a consequence of Lhls. 8uL l learned from my
faLher Lo LranslaLe: everyLhlng l read l Lry Lo flgure ouL whaL lL really means, whaL lL's really
saylng.
We used Lo go Lo Lhe CaLsklll MounLalns, a place where people from new ?ork ClLy
would go ln Lhe summer. 1he faLhers would all reLurn Lo new ?ork Lo work durlng Lhe week
and come back only for Lhe weekend. Cn weekends, my faLher would Lake me for walks ln Lhe
woods and he'd Lell me abouL lnLeresLlng Lhlngs LhaL were golng on ln Lhe woods. When Lhe
oLher moLhers saw Lhls, Lhey LhoughL lL was wonderful and LhaL Lhe oLher faLhers should Lake
Lhelr sons for walks. 1hey Lrled Lo work on Lhem buL Lhey dldn'L geL anywhere aL flrsL. 1hey
wanLed my faLher Lo Lake all Lhe klds, buL he dldn'L wanL Lo because he had a speclal
relaLlonshlp wlLh me. So lL ended up LhaL Lhe oLher faLhers had Lo Lake Lhelr chlldren for walks
Lhe nexL weekend.
1he nexL Monday, when Lhe faLhers were all back aL work, we klds were playlng ln a
fleld. Cne kld says Lo me, See LhaL blrd? WhaL klnd of blrd ls LhaL?"
l sald, l haven'L Lhe sllghLesL ldea whaL klnd of a blrd lL ls."
Pe says, lL's a brown-LhroaLed Lhrush. ?our faLher doesn'L Leach you anyLhlng!"
8uL lL was Lhe opposlLe. Pe had already LaughL me: See LhaL blrd?" he says. lL's a
Spencer's warbler." (l knew he dldn'L know Lhe real name.) Well, ln lLallan, lL's a 452//&
6('+//+*(. ln orLuguese lL's a -&7 *( 8)+*(. ln Chlnese, lL's a 452"9:%&"9:/(5, and ln
!apanese, lL's a ;(/("& 0)<)*(= ?ou can know Lhe name of Lhe blrd ln all Lhe languages of Lhe
world, buL when you're flnlshed, you'll know absoluLely noLhlng whaLever abouL Lhe blrd.
?ou'll only know abouL humans ln dlfferenL places, and whaL Lhey call Lhe blrd. So leL's look aL
Lhe blrd and see whaL lL's *&+"9-LhaL's whaL counLs." (l learned very early Lhe dlfference
beLween knowlng Lhe name of someLhlng and knowlng someLhlng.)

1
8lchard leynman's faLher made Lhls sLaLemenL ln 1918. Pls youngesL daughLer, !oan, who was born a shorL Llme
laLer, also became a sclenLlsL and earned a .h.u ln physlcs.

Pe sald, lor example, look: Lhe blrd pecks aL lLs feaLhers all Lhe Llme. See lL walklng
around, pecklng aL lLs feaLhers?"
?eah."
Pe says, Why do you Lhlnk blrds peck aL Lhelr feaLhers?"
l sald, Well, maybe Lhey mess up Lhelr feaLhers when Lhey fly, so Lhey're pecklng
Lhem ln order Lo sLralghLen Lhem ouL."
All rlghL," he says. lf LhaL were Lhe case, Lhen Lhey would peck a loL [usL afLer
Lhey've been flylng. 1hen, afLer Lhey've been on Lhe ground a whlle, Lhey wouldn'L peck so
much anymore-you know whaL l mean?"
?eah."
Pe says, LeL's look and see lf Lhey peck more [usL afLer Lhey land."
lL wasn'L hard Lo Lell: Lhere was noL much dlfference beLween Lhe blrds LhaL had been
walklng around a blL and Lhose LhaL had [usL landed. So l sald, l glve up. Why does a blrd peck
aL lLs feaLhers?"
8ecause Lhere are llce boLherlng lL," he says. 1he llce eaL flakes of proLeln LhaL come
off lLs feaLhers."
Pe conLlnued, Lach louse has some waxy sLuff on lLs legs, and llLLle mlLes eaL LhaL.
1he mlLes don'L dlgesL lL perfecLly, so Lhey emlL from Lhelr rear ends a sugarllke maLerlal, ln
whlch bacLerla grow."
llnally he says, So you see, everywhere Lhere's a source of food, Lhere's 1&7) form
of llfe LhaL flnds lL."
now, l knew LhaL lL may noL have been exacLly a louse, LhaL lL mlghL noL be exacLly
Lrue LhaL Lhe louse's legs have mlLes. 1haL sLory was probably lncorrecL ln *)/(+%, buL whaL he
was Lelllng me was rlghL ln '.+"#+'%)=
noL havlng experlence wlLh many faLhers, l dldn'L reallze how remarkable he was.
Pow dld he learn Lhe deep prlnclples of sclence and Lhe love of lL, whaL's behlnd lL, and why
lL's worLh dolng? l never really asked hlm, because l [usL assumed LhaL Lhose were Lhlngs LhaL
faLhers knew.
My faLher LaughL me Lo noLlce Lhlngs. Cne day, l was playlng wlLh an express
wagon," a llLLle wagon wlLh a ralllng around lL. lL had a ball ln lL, and when l pulled Lhe wagon,
l noLlced someLhlng abouL Lhe way Lhe ball moved. l wenL Lo my faLher and sald, Say, op, l
noLlced someLhlng. When l pull Lhe wagon, Lhe ball rolls Lo Lhe back of Lhe wagon. And when
l'm pulllng lL along and l suddenly sLop, Lhe ball rolls Lo Lhe fronL of Lhe wagon. Why ls LhaL?"
1haL, nobody knows," he sald. 1he general prlnclple ls LhaL Lhlngs whlch are movlng
Lend Lo keep on movlng, and Lhlngs whlch are sLandlng sLlll Lend Lo sLand sLlll, unless you push
Lhem hard. 1hls Lendency ls called 'lnerLla,' buL nobody knows why lL's Lrue." now, LhaL's a
deep undersLandlng. Pe dldn'L [usL glve me Lhe name.
Pe wenL on Lo say, lf you look from Lhe slde, you'll see LhaL lL's Lhe back of Lhe wagon
LhaL you're pulllng agalnsL Lhe ball, and Lhe ball sLands sLlll. As a maLLer of facL, from Lhe
frlcLlon lL sLarLs Lo move forward a llLLle blL ln relaLlon Lo Lhe ground. lL doesn'L move back."
l ran back Lo Lhe llLLle wagon and seL Lhe ball up agaln and pulled Lhe wagon. Looklng
sldeways, l saw LhaL lndeed he was rlghL. 8elaLlve Lo Lhe sldewalk, lL moved forward a llLLle
blL.
1haL's Lhe way l was educaLed by my faLher, wlLh Lhose klnds of examples and
dlscusslons: no pressure-[usL lovely, lnLeresLlng dlscusslons. lL has moLlvaLed me for Lhe resL
of my llfe, and makes me lnLeresLed ln (%% Lhe sclences. (lL [usL happens l do physlcs beLLer.)
l've been caughL, so Lo speak-llke someone who was glven someLhlng wonderful
when he was a chlld, and he's always looklng for lL agaln. l'm always looklng, llke a chlld, for
Lhe wonders l know l'm golng Lo flnd-maybe noL every Llme, buL every once ln a whlle.

Themakingofascientist

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!"# !#%&' (!"# )+,-. /0 12,#-&,3&45 6#7-8-4 9,2":;< =>!?

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