Talk:Richard Feynman

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Please consider adding this quote from Feynman's boss, Oppenheimer at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Would a fellow Wiki contributor please consider adding this quotation from Oppenheimer, as stated on the Los Alamos National Laboratory website? It would fit into his early career.If it does not meet the criteria for a source, could you please consider adding it under website articles?

"Richard Feynman was fresh out of Princeton University’s doctoral program when he was recruited to assist in the creation of the atomic bomb at Los Alamos. In 1943, Lab Director J. Robert Oppenheimer wrote that the 24-year-old was “by all odds the most brilliant young physicist here, and everyone knows this.”

Richard P. Feynman | Los Alamos National Laboratory Safecracking, cipher-creating, and 'the most brilliant young physicist', Patty Templeton, October 10, 2023

ScienceWriter100 (talk) 18:48, 16 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Where did Oppenheimer write this? Hawkeye7 (discuss) 21:03, 16 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Hawkeye7,

I do not see the original sources in this article. Would it make sense to use different content from this article, or to place the website page in Further Reading or External Links? ScienceWriter100 (talk) 21:09, 16 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

In Gleick's biography Genius it says on p184 that Oppenheimer wrote this in November 1943 "to the [Berkeley physics] department chair, Birge" in trying to persuade him to hire Feynman after the war. It's quoted from Smith and Weiner: Robert Oppenheimer. Letters and Reflections. Harvard University Press 1980, p269. --Qcomp (talk) 23:02, 16 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Hawkeye7 and @Qcomp

What do you think of these additions?

1. Add this copy after citation [63]:

"In 1943, while working at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project, Feynman impressed Laboratory Director J. Robert Oppenheimer, who wrote in a letter to the University of California, Berkeley’s physics department chair that Feynman was “by all odds the most brilliant young physicist here, and everyone knows this.”<ref>Smith, Alice Kimball & Weiner, Charles (1980). Robert Oppenheimer: Letters and Recollections. Harvard University Press. p. 269. [ https://archive.org/details/robertoppenheime00oppe? Internet Archive]</ref><ref>Gleick, James (1992). Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman. Pantheon Books. p. 184.</ref>"

2. Add this link under External Links:

Richard P. Feynman | Los Alamos National Laboratory

Thank you for your feedback and contributions. ScienceWriter100 (talk) 15:25, 17 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

(Takes those books down from the shelf.) Okay, I have added the citation. The article already notes further down the result of Oppenheimer's recommendation. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 21:52, 17 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you Hawkeye7 ScienceWriter100 (talk) 16:30, 18 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:

• Feynman lecture 1964 (10481714045).jpg

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 23:36, 12 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]