66. RICHARD FEYNMAN: A more interesting outlook

66. RICHARD FEYNMAN: A more interesting outlook:


FEYNMAN WEEK: Part 2
Richard Feynman (1918-1988) was a legendary American physicist, lecturer and one helluva bongo player. During his Ph.D studies he was selected to work on the Manhattan project to develop the atomic bomb. From there he won the Nobel Prize for Physics and became professor at Caltech where he spent the majority of his career. Later in his life, he served on the committee that investigated the Challenger space shuttle disaster. However, he appeals to many non-scientists for his eccentric personality, zest for life and the beautiful, wonder-inspiring way he shared his love for science to the public.
One of the best things about this site is not only do I share my favourite people with you, but I’ve discovered new and exciting things from your quote submissions. I had never heard of Richard Feynman before I started Zen Pencils, but readers bombarded me with his quotes after I expressed my love for Carl Sagan and soon I was on my way. I watched all his YouTube videos and read his autobiography Surely You’re Joking, Mr Feynman! and now I’m totally obsessed with him. His way of thinking and looking at the world was breathtaking, and he communicated science with so much joy and fun – a truly remarkable man.
This quote was taken from the brilliant Horizon episode The Pleasure of Finding Things Out. You can watch the short clip here but I highly recommend you watch the whole interview.
My favourite Feynman clip is this one where he talks about light waves, or as he puts it ‘the inconceivable nature of nature’. I watch this clip at least once a week and it never fails to put a smile on my face. It’s five minutes of magic. Why couldn’t my science teachers explain things like this?!

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Drapery studies (Leonardo da Vinci & Albrecht Dürer)

The amazing thing about masters is that they somehow already know how to do great things. You'll surely learn something interesting following their steps.

Drapery Study:

HB, 2B, 4B
White pastel
Kneaded eraser
A4 color paper
References: Leonardo da Vinci & Albrecht Dürer
 

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63. CARL SAGAN: Books are awesome

63. CARL SAGAN: Books are awesome:


Another gem from Carl Sagan (read my first Sagan post on why I love him so much). My initial idea was to set the story in the very near future in a classroom. A teacher would tell the class it was reading time and the students would all take out their iPad 6.0 and open up the iBooks3D app. Each student would select a different book in the app and a 3D hologram of the historic person would project from their screens and the money shot would feature the classroom filled with these 3D projections. I rejected the idea because I didn’t want it to be one big ad for Apple and I also wanted to create a tribute to the printed book. I don’t think the 3D projection idea is too far from actually happening, especially after that Tupac hologram we all gushed over at Coachella.
Thanks to tablets and e-readers, the printed book is fighting a uphill battle to stay alive. How can they hope to survive when I’ve got dozens of books on my iPad (not to mention hundreds of comics, magazines, music, games, photos and movies) that I can carry around with me anywhere I go? So yes, this is my love-letter to printed books – those chunky, faded, smelly and yellow parcels of knowledge and fun I used to check out from my school library that helped shaped the person I am today (those and cartoons, lots and lots of cartoons).
It was really hard picking five books from the history of the written word. What helped me choose was not only how well-known the authors and books were, but also how easily recognisable their costumes and appearance would be to readers. I had to have someone thousands of years old because that’s what Sagan mentioned, which is why I picked Lao Tzu. Also, I had to have Teddy Roosevelt because he’s my guy.
- Now it’s your turn – which five books and/or authors would you have chosen?

- Thanks to Janice and Renee for suggesting this quote. Here’s the clip from Cosmos.

- Coincidently, just yesterday Brain Pickings posted Carl Sagan’s reading list from 1954. Check out what this great man fed his brain with.
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Anatomy Studies

I thought that some anatomy studies couldn't do any harm, and sharing them maybe could be useful for others.

4H, HB, 2B, 3B, 4B
Kneaded Eraser, Mechanical Pen Eraser

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