QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter

Richard P. Feynman

Oct 2014 · Princeton Science Library Book 33 · Princeton University Press

About this ebook

Feynman’s bestselling introduction to the mind-blowing physics of QED—presented with humor, not mathematics

Celebrated for his brilliantly quirky insights into the physical world, Nobel laureate Richard Feynman also possessed an extraordinary talent for explaining difficult concepts to the public. In this extraordinary book, Feynman provides a lively and accessible introduction to QED, or quantum electrodynamics, an area of quantum field theory that describes the interactions of light with charged particles. Using everyday language, spatial concepts, visualizations, and his renowned Feynman diagrams instead of advanced mathematics, Feynman clearly and humorously communicates the substance and spirit of QED to the nonscientist.

With an incisive introduction by A. Zee that places Feynman’s contribution to QED in historical context and highlights Feynman’s uniquely appealing and illuminating style, this Princeton Science Library edition of QED makes Feynman’s legendary talks on quantum electrodynamics available to a new generation of readers.

Ratings and reviews

My major is mathematics and physics and I'm interested in physics , and found this book very useful , but it doesn't explain the basis of the phenomenon and doesn't answer to "why this is happening ? " It only explains " what is happening " and that's not what I was looking for ! But it worth reading anyway.

The free sample doesn't contain any of Feynman's material, just a foreword by someone else. I can't know if equations and Feynman diagrams actually display nicely in this ebook. The free sample is not helping to decide whether to buy the book.

A classic, both for the reader unfamiliar with the domain, and for the trained physicist. After all, it's all about drawing arrows!

About the author

Richard P. Feynman (1918–1988) was professor of physics at the California Institute of Technology. A. Zee is professor of physics at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His many books include Fly by Night Physics, On Gravity, Group Theory in a Nutshell for Physicists, Einstein Gravity in a Nutshell, Quantum Field Theory in a Nutshell, and Fearful Symmetry (all Princeton).