Richard Feynman was quite the rebel of his days. In Jan 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after take-off. All seven crew members on-board died. Feynman was part of the Rogers Commission that investigated the crash.
In a televised hearing, he dipped an O-ring (a rubber seal from the shuttle) into a glass of ice water to demonstrate how cold kills elasticity. The launch day had been extremely cold, and the O-ring lost flexibility and deformed instead of properly sealing. His demo was simple but unforgettable and it went on to became one of the most iconic moments in the Challenger’s legacy.
The sad part was the Morton Thiokol engineers responsible for the booster rocket flagged the problem and recommended against a launch that morning, but NASA bosses overruled it. In his addendum to the final report, Feynman blatantly criticized NASA’s culture for ignoring the risks.
I’ve been reading about many mavericks this week and I gotta say, rebel geniuses are such bad boys. Richard Feynman is a physicist who won the Nobel Prize in 1965. He is known for his work in quantum mechanics, quantum electrodynamics and more. He also picks locks, plays the bongo and apparently likes nude sunbathing.
Some of his memorable quotes :
Don't listen to the person who has the answers. Listen to the person who has the questions.
The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits (this could be einstein but its good)
The exception proves that the rule is wrong (love this)
Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not the main reason for doing it.
I have a friend who's an artist and has sometimes made a mistake, but his feeling is that it makes the picture more original.
I think it is much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong.
We are so used to looking at the world from the point of view of living things that we cannot understand what it means not to be alive.
pam
npub1pv…kdx8c
2025-04-27 04:40:52
Author Public Key
npub1pvgcusxk7006hvtlyx555erhq8c5pk9svw57snlxujpkgnkup89sekdx8cPublished at
2025-04-27 04:40:52Event JSON
{
"id": "5c523b26f6d71381ae3dadd1b117358d5762873d17722b6d80dd5870a8051442",
"pubkey": "0b118e40d6f3dfabb17f21a94a647701f140d8b063a9e84fe6e483644edc09cb",
"created_at": 1745728852,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [
[
"r",
"wss://nos.lol/"
],
[
"r",
"wss://nostr.mom/"
],
[
"r",
"wss://pyramid.fiatjaf.com/"
],
[
"r",
"wss://relay.primal.net/"
],
[
"r",
"wss://relay.nostr.band/"
]
],
"content": "Richard Feynman was quite the rebel of his days. In Jan 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after take-off. All seven crew members on-board died. Feynman was part of the Rogers Commission that investigated the crash. \n\nIn a televised hearing, he dipped an O-ring (a rubber seal from the shuttle) into a glass of ice water to demonstrate how cold kills elasticity. The launch day had been extremely cold, and the O-ring lost flexibility and deformed instead of properly sealing. His demo was simple but unforgettable and it went on to became one of the most iconic moments in the Challenger’s legacy. \n\nThe sad part was the Morton Thiokol engineers responsible for the booster rocket flagged the problem and recommended against a launch that morning, but NASA bosses overruled it. In his addendum to the final report, Feynman blatantly criticized NASA’s culture for ignoring the risks.\n\nI’ve been reading about many mavericks this week and I gotta say, rebel geniuses are such bad boys. Richard Feynman is a physicist who won the Nobel Prize in 1965. He is known for his work in quantum mechanics, quantum electrodynamics and more. He also picks locks, plays the bongo and apparently likes nude sunbathing. \n\nSome of his memorable quotes : \n\nDon't listen to the person who has the answers. Listen to the person who has the questions.\n\nThe difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits (this could be einstein but its good)\n\nThe exception proves that the rule is wrong (love this)\n\nPhysics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not the main reason for doing it.\n\nI have a friend who's an artist and has sometimes made a mistake, but his feeling is that it makes the picture more original.\n\nI think it is much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong.\n\nWe are so used to looking at the world from the point of view of living things that we cannot understand what it means not to be alive.\n",
"sig": "e1b0fff5b0bc71348fca47ed1c05b80b3381a683069c95c666cfbfc762a9909a3ffb50c5ad573cc4aa912d3c8e61e6446cdfa2f8c242cba8e6fbcd9c83e61d75"
}