Feynman

Richard Phillips Feynman (May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist renowned for his work in quantum electrodynamics (QED), the development of Feynman diagrams, and his broad contributions to physics education and science communication. He shared the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics for fundamental work in QED.

Feynman was born in New York City and studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning a bachelor's degree in physics in 1939. He completed his PhD at Princeton University in 1942, under John Archibald Wheeler, with a thesis on quantum electrodynamics.

In the 1940s, Feynman helped formulate a practical approach to QED, introducing Feynman diagrams as a graphical method for calculating particle interactions, and later developing the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics. His work, along with that of Schwinger and Tomonaga, underpinned precision predictions in particle physics and quantum field theory.

During World War II, Feynman was a member of the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, contributing to calculations relevant to the wartime development of atomic weapons. After the war he joined the California Institute of Technology, where he spent most of his career and became a renowned teacher.

Feynman authored and coauthored several influential texts, including The Feynman Lectures on Physics (with Robert Leighton and Matthew Sands) and popular science books such as Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! His legacy includes a lasting impact on how quantum physics is taught and understood.

Feynman died in 1988 in Los Angeles. His ideas, methods, and distinctive problem-solving style remain central to modern physics.