Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character

Autodidacticism describes learning without teachers or schools. The idea of being self-taught is central to Feynman’s narrative. His self-teaching starts with his childhood science lab and touches everything from the way he learns calculus to how he acquires his ability on the drums. For Feynman, autodidacticism combines curiosity, intellectual ability, persistence, and the willingness to fail.

Feynman coins this term in his 1974 Caltech commencement address. It means, roughly, “pseudoscience.” He is referring to things such as ESP, which claims to have a scientific basis but does not follow the scientific method. Cargo Cult Science is “fake” or “trick” science that is not experimentally testable and derives from false beliefs that people would like to be true.

A worldwide economic downturn beginning in 1929 and lasting until World War II. It was the most severe economic disruption of the 20th century, leaving up to 25% of Americans unemployed. It also marked an era when the federal government began, in an effort to boost the economy, to fund many public projects. Feynman begins his memoir at the onset of the Great Depression.