Richard Feynman
By:
May 11, 2009
Was RICHARD FEYNMAN (1918-1988) the original cyberpunk? Feynman’s joy at constructing the myth of Feynman-as-outsider-genius seemed nearly as great as what he experienced expanding the frontiers of modern physics. His curiosity ranged from quantum physics to building tiny motors to picking up chicks. He was as interested in heuristics as in theory — if a principle could not be communicated in a freshman lecture, it was not properly understood. Described by Freeman Dyson as “half genius and half buffoon,” he was nanotechnology’s godfather and spiritual ancestor to all makers and pickup artists.
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On his or her birthday, HiLobrow irregularly pays tribute to one of our high-, low-, no-, or hilobrow heroes. Also born this date: Rosa Auslander,
Martha Graham
, Phil Silvers, Denver Pyle.
READ MORE about members of the New God Generation (1914-23).