Richard Phillips Feynman (May 11, 1918 - February 15, 1988) was an American physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics (he proposed the parton model). For his contributions to the development of quantum electrodynamics, Feynman, jointly with Julian Schwinger and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965. He developed a widely used pictorial representation scheme for the mathematical expressions governing the behavior of subatomic particles, which later became known as Feynman diagrams. During his lifetime, Feynman became one of the best-known scientists in the world.
He assisted in the development of the atomic bomb and was a member of the panel that investigated the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. In addition to his work in theoretical physics, Feynman has been credited with pioneering the field of quantum computing, and introducing the concept of nanotechnology. He held the Richard Chace Tolman professorship in theoretical physics at the California Institute of Technology. (wikipedia)
Richard Feynman once cracked the safes at Los Alamos that held the blueprints for the atomic bomb — not because he wanted the secrets, but because he couldn’t resist the puzzle. In the middle of World War II, while other scientists worked under crushing secrecy to split the atom, Feynman amused himself by figuring out how to break into filing cabinets. He guessed that physicists — creatures of habit — used “obvious” combinations like mathematical constants or simple sequences. He was right. One after another, the safes clicked open. Inside: the very designs for weapons that would reshape history. Feynman laughed it off as mischief, but the military brass was not amused.
That prank summed up his life: an irreverent genius who treated the rules of the universe like toys waiting to be taken apart. Long before Los Alamos, Feynman was already on that path. At just 15, with no tutor, no internet, and only a stack of books, he devoured trigonometry, algebra, analytic geometry, calculus, even infinite series. He’d work late into the night in his bedroom in Far Rockaway, New York, scribbling equations while his parents slept. “I didn’t know it was supposed to be hard,” he later said. By the time he arrived at MIT, he was already solving problems ahead of the curriculum.
What made Feynman extraordinary wasn’t just brilliance — it was his refusal to take it too seriously. He played bongos in Brazilian nightclubs, sketched nude models, told dirty jokes in classrooms, and explained quantum mechanics with doodles and stories instead of dense jargon. Students adored him because he made physics feel alive, messy, human.
The safecracking at Los Alamos wasn’t just a prank — it was a metaphor. Feynman believed that most “locked doors” in life were illusions, barriers people obeyed because they assumed they were unbreakable. Whether it was mathematics, physics, or a combination lock, he pushed until it opened. Sometimes the result was world-changing science; sometimes it was just a belly laugh at a general’s expense.
Richard Feynman’s story is the story of a man who made genius look like play — and showed the world that curiosity, mischief, and irreverence could be as powerful as intelligence itself.
Richard Feynman opened a sealed safe at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project using nothing but memory, intuition, and a borrowed screwdriver, then calmly handed out classified files to startled physicists to prove that the world’s most secure laboratory was not secure at all.
He was supposed to focus on equations that would change history, yet he could not ignore the simple fact that the military treated secrecy like magic instead of engineering. Feynman overheard officers bragging about unbreakable locks. He asked for a copy of the combination system. No one gave it to him, so he studied the filing cabinets instead. He noticed scratches near common numbers, patterns in how physicists set combinations, and the lazy habit of choosing birthdays. Within weeks he opened dozens of safes across the lab with nothing but logic.
He never stole anything. He left polite notes that read, “Please improve your security.” Some generals were furious. Others were terrified. Feynman kept telling them that the point of science was honesty, not ceremony.
Los Alamos changed him. He arrived grieving the death of his first wife, Arline. He wrote her letters every day even after she passed, placing them in a box he kept hidden in his dorm room. He played bongos at night to stay sane. He solved problems on cafeteria napkins. He asked questions that made senior physicists pause. Why does this assumption exist How do we know it is true Have we tested it
He carried that mindset into the world after the war. At Cornell he lectured with a style students described as electricity. His chalk moved faster than most people could think. Then came Caltech, where he wrote on every surface he could find, including plates, windows, and the back of menus. He once explained quantum electrodynamics on a diner napkin so clearly that the waitress asked if he could tutor her son.
His greatest public moment came in 1986. The Space Shuttle Challenger had exploded and the Rogers Commission asked for his help. Feynman sat through days of technical explanations. Then he dipped a small piece of rubber O ring into a glass of ice water on live television. The rubber stiffened instantly. The room fell silent. Feynman looked up and said, “This is how it happened.” No politics. No spin. Just truth made visible.
He won the Nobel Prize, yet he preferred talking with undergraduates. He hated prestige. He loved curiosity. He believed nature was endlessly interesting if you looked closely enough.
Richard Feynman lived by a simple rule.
If something mattered, he tested it for himself, and he showed the world that clarity can be louder than power.
See Also
16.18 - Magnetism - Feynman
Feynman Diagram
Figure 4.14 - Feynmans Triplet Structures of the Proton and Neutron
Figure 7B.09 - Feynmans Triplet Structure of Photon
Genius
Josef Papp
Part 24 - Awakening Your Genius