"In science, as well as in other fields of human endeavor, there are two kinds of geniuses: the “ordinary” and the “magicians.” An ordinary genius is a fellow that you and I would be just as good as, if we were only many times better. There is no mystery as to how his mind works. Once we understand what he has done, we feel certain that we, too, could have done it. It is different with the magicians. They are, to use mathematical jargon, in the orthogonal complement of where we are and the working of their minds is for all intents and purposes incomprehensible. Even after we understand what they have done, the process by which they have done it is completely dark. They seldom, if ever, have students because they cannot be emulated and it must be terribly frustrating for a brilliant young mind to cope with the mysterious ways in which the magician's mind works. Richard Feynman is a magician of the highest caliber. Hans Bethe, whom Dyson considers to be his teacher, is an “ordinary genius”; so much so that one may gain the erroneous impression that he is not a genius at all. But it was Feynman, only slightly older than Dyson, who captured the young man's imagination."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Academics from the United StatesNon-fiction authors from the United StatesNobel laureates in PhysicsNobel laureates from the United StatesPhysicists from the United States
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Mark Kac, in his introduction to Enigmas of Chance: An Autobiography (1985), p. xxv
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Related Quotes
"What the students are taught ...now ...about physics ...The numbers are much bigger... so enormous you can't count th…"
"That's called monochromatic light, light of one color. ...I'm going to discuss all my phenomena for a while with ligh…"
"One of the most important things in this 'guess — compute consequences — compare with experiment' business is to know…"
"[T]he Mayan[s]... had a scheme for predicting... when Venus was a morning... or . ...[T]hey had a rule for... making …"
"[I]n the years we have developed enormous abilities in mathematics and it takes a long time to train the students, an…"
"I don't know about philosophy of Mayans. We have very little information due to the efficiency of the Spanish es and.…"
"The most important thing I found out from [my father] is that if you asked any question and pursued it deeply enough,…"
"I don't like honors. ... I've already got the prize: the prize is the pleasure of finding the thing out, the kick in …"
"That was the beginning and the idea seemed so obvious to me that I fell deeply in love with it. And, like falling in …"
"If we make an instrument that can detect light, that's as sensitive as it can possibly be made. ...This ...is called …"