Richard P. Feynman's The Meaning of it All collects a series of public lectures from one of the greatest scientific minds of the twentieth century. What is science and what is its true value? Can a scientist believe in God? Why, in this supposedly scientific age, is there such widespread fascination with flying saucers, faith healing, astrology and alien invasion? Can there be such a thing as a satisfactory philosophy of ignorance? At the peak of his career, maverick genius Richard Feynman gave three public lectures addressing the questions that most inspired and troubled him. Covering everything from the atomic bomb to ethics, the imagination to the meaning of life, they are brought together in this provocative and hugely entertaining volume. He is everything you want and expect a scientist to be: charming, skeptical, funny, blindingly intelligent ...confirms one's suspicion that Feynman was probably the coolest scientist who ever lived . ( Guardian ). Wonderful! The world has a lot to learn from such clear, uncomplicated thinking . (Paul Davies, author of The Eerie Silence ). A genius who brought us new ways to view the world . ( Independent ). Richard P. Feynman (1918-1988) was one of this century's most brilliant theoretical physicists and original thinkers. Feynman's other books, also available in Penguin, include QED , Six Easy Pieces , Six Not-so-Easy Pieces , Don't You Have Time to Think , The Pleasure of Finding Things Out , What Do You Care What Other People Think? and The Meaning of it All .