> However, we want to be clear that this edition is only free to read online, and this posting does not transfer any right to download all or any portion of The Feynman Lectures on Physics for any purpose.
I'm not entirely sure how to read this in my web browser without it being downloaded in the process.
It would be nice to get the audio released free as well. While not as useful as the books for actual learning (at least half of the audio is Feynman drawing furiously on a chalkboard and booming "and then this leads to this...") much of the beginning parts of each lecture are dedicated to well spoken overviews and ideas, and to hear them from Feynman himself is quite amazing. I've only been able to find some of the audio files for sale on Audible and on some rare bootleg torrents.
This is some years old, in case that's not clear, and "free" as in readable online at no charge.
There was an interesting account of the production process somewhere, but I can't find a reference to it.
No. Feynman Lectures was an experimental set of lecture notes (not a textbook!) for presentation to elite Caltech students (who already studied a lot of physics in high school) who would find an introduction to physics far too easy and boring, and Feynman himself was pessimistic about how effective the course was.
It's famous for being Feynman, not for being a great textbook.
> It's famous for being Feynman, not for being a great textbook.
I beg to differ.
I know no general course in physics which is close enough to the Feynman lectures on physics. And I've learned about Feynman from lectures, not the other way. (Arguably, he is famous thanks to his explanations skills.) And anecdotally, virtually all people I know that participated in physics olympiad adore this textbook.
Can you suggest some good ones? From what I've seen in math texts, good books usually deal with one area (e.g. introductory real analysis) instead of covering multiple topics.
Works for me (Firefox and Chrome). The footnote on the page says: "This HTML5-based edition features LaTeX equations rendered by MathJax JavaScript, and scalable vector graphic (SVG) figures. Your browser must support javascript and permit scripts from mathjax.org. LocalStorage must be enabled"
I'm not entirely sure how to read this in my web browser without it being downloaded in the process.