Richard Feynman, the Nobel Prize winner who knew how to convey the complexity of theoretical physics in a simple way

May 11, 1918, New York (USA) - February 15, 1988, California (USA)

Richard Phillips Feynman was a unique genius who could not stand still when he found he did not understand something, he needed to understand even the smallest details of a problem to solve it. He possessed a great ability to see the simplicity of seemingly complicated things, a fabulous ability to appreciate the obvious. So it is not surprising that Feynman was a great lover of nature. He liked to know how and why things happened, and he found in the essence of nature a beauty and pleasure that was reserved for those who made the effort to understand its mechanisms.

His scepticism stayed with him all his life. It is said that, as a child, he was relieved to discover that Father Christmas was not real, as the truth was much easier to understand when it came to explaining why so many children received presents. Also curious is the anecdote from 1975, when he managed to meet Uri Geller, a person who was supposed to be able to bend spoons with his mind. Feynman needed a rational explanation for this ‘paranormal’ fact. However, the meeting turned out to be a complete failure for Geller, who failed to demonstrate his extraordinary abilities.

Feynman studied physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), continuing his career at Princeton University. He received his PhD in physics in 1942, with a paper on electromagnetic waves supervised by the American nuclear physicist John Wheeler. The audience included scientists such as Albert Einstein, Wolfgang Ernst Pauli, and von Neumann.

In 1945, he moved to Cornell University as a professor of theoretical physics. Later, after his time as a visiting professor at the University of Rio de Janeiro, he became professor of theoretical physics at the California Institute of Technology, focusing his research on quantum electrodynamics, a discipline in which he developed quantum field theory.

In 1965, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, along with Shin-Ichiro Tomonaga and Julian Schwinger.

In more detail, Richard Feynman made several significant contributions to physics, excelling in some fields:

• Quantum electrodynamics (QED). It describes how photons interact with electrons and positrons. His innovative approach simplified the understanding of these interactions through the use of Feynman diagrams, a graphical representation that facilitates the calculation of probabilities of quantum events.
• Path integrals. He introduced the formulation of path integrals in quantum mechanics, a method for calculating the probability of different trajectories that a particle can follow. This approach has been fundamental to the development of quantum field theory.
• Superfluidity of liquid helium. A state of matter in which helium can flow without friction. His theories helped explain the quantum behaviour of this phenomenon.
• Particle physics. Proposed the parton model, which describes the internal structure of protons and neutrons in terms of smaller particles called partons. This model was an important precursor to the development of quantum chromodynamics.
• Scientific Disclosure. In addition to his technical contributions, Feynman was an outstanding populariser of science. His Lectures on Physics are widely used in physics education and have inspired generations of students.

Few people in history have won Nobel Prizes for their achievements in theoretical physics, painted a nude female bullfighter on commission, cracked army safes, explained physics to Einstein, played the frigideira in Brazil, and been declared unfit for military service due to mental incapacity. Everyone who knew him remembers his simplicity, honesty, sense of humour, and wit.