In 1979, the charismatic physicist Richard Feynman journeyed to the University of Auckland (New Zealand) and delivered a series of four lectures on Quantum Electrodynamics (QED), the theory for which he won his Nobel Prize. It’s some heady material, but Feynman made a point of making difficult concepts intelligible to a crowd not necessarily trained in scientific thinking. If you’ve never seen Feynman lecture before, then you won’t want to miss these lectures available in four parts (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4), or his longer lecture series, The Character of Physical Law, delivered at Cornell in 1964. (Find it here, or in the Physics section of our collection, 1,700 Free Online Courses from Top Universities.)
As for the Aucklund lectures on QED, they later became the basis for Feynman’s popular 1988 book, QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter. The first Auckland lecture on Photons appears above; the remaining ones can be viewed on the website hosted by The Vega Science Trust.
If you would like to sign up for Open Culture’s free email newsletter, please find it here.
If you would like to support the mission of Open Culture, consider making a donation to our site. It’s hard to rely 100% on ads, and your contributions will help us continue providing the best free cultural and educational materials to learners everywhere. You can contribute through PayPal, Patreon, and Venmo (@openculture). Thanks!
Related Content:
The Richard Feynman Trilogy: The Physicist Captured in Three Films
Richard Feynman: The Likelihood of Flying Saucers
Leave a Reply