First Second Books, 2011
Physicist Richard Feynman is a well known figure, both in the scientific community and in popular culture. He worked with Robert Oppenheimer and Niels Bohr on the Manhattan Project and was a pioneer in the field of quantum physics, having won a Nobel Prize for his theory of quantum electrodynamics. Volumes have been written by and about Richard Feynman, to which another can be added - a graphic biography by Jim Ottovani, entitled simply Feynman.
Feynman, narrated by the character of Richard Feynman himself, is a mostly chronological but largely episodic retrospective on the physicist's life and work, beginning with Feynman as a boy and running right up until his death from liver cancer in 1988. Ottovani's research was extensive in writing this biography - he cites more than 30 books in his bibliography - and he does an excellent job balancing Richard Feynman, the accomplished physicist, with Richard Feynman, "the curious character" who lives on in the annals of popular culture for his unconventionalities - his interest in safe-cracking, bongo-drumming, and art.
Physicist Richard Feynman is a well known figure, both in the scientific community and in popular culture. He worked with Robert Oppenheimer and Niels Bohr on the Manhattan Project and was a pioneer in the field of quantum physics, having won a Nobel Prize for his theory of quantum electrodynamics. Volumes have been written by and about Richard Feynman, to which another can be added - a graphic biography by Jim Ottovani, entitled simply Feynman.
Feynman, narrated by the character of Richard Feynman himself, is a mostly chronological but largely episodic retrospective on the physicist's life and work, beginning with Feynman as a boy and running right up until his death from liver cancer in 1988. Ottovani's research was extensive in writing this biography - he cites more than 30 books in his bibliography - and he does an excellent job balancing Richard Feynman, the accomplished physicist, with Richard Feynman, "the curious character" who lives on in the annals of popular culture for his unconventionalities - his interest in safe-cracking, bongo-drumming, and art.
Ottaviani's biography doesn't spare Feynman the lesser of his personality traits. The book's Feynman character is off-putting at times - self-centered in his relentless curiousity, and something of a lout who hit on the undergraduates and, during his tenure at Cal-Tech, used a strip club as a second office. Feynman, however, was upstanding about what he believed. His motto, "What do you care what other people think?" is found throughout the book and conveys his forthright nature (Ottovani and Myrick include a scene in which Feynman publicly defended the aforementioned strip club when authorities tried to close it down).
Myrick's expressive lines in Feynman find their home just short of realism. The drawings have a retro quality in line and color that suits this graphic biography form. The characters found within are numerous, and though sometimes I have difficulty making out the difference between supporting characters (who include notable scientists such as Oppenheimer and Einstein), Feynman, with his wild, unkempt hair, is always immediately recognizable. The frames that attempted to convey the nature of Feynman's work, though not always clear to this layman, were well-executed and succeeded in bringing the man's ideas to the forefront of the narrative.
Myrick's expressive lines in Feynman find their home just short of realism. The drawings have a retro quality in line and color that suits this graphic biography form. The characters found within are numerous, and though sometimes I have difficulty making out the difference between supporting characters (who include notable scientists such as Oppenheimer and Einstein), Feynman, with his wild, unkempt hair, is always immediately recognizable. The frames that attempted to convey the nature of Feynman's work, though not always clear to this layman, were well-executed and succeeded in bringing the man's ideas to the forefront of the narrative.
Feynman is a beautiful book and a great introduction to one of the more fascinating figures in recent science. Readers with more interest in Ottaviani and Myrick's subject will need to look no further than this book's bibliography for suggested reading.
About Jim Ottaviani:
Jim Ottaviani began his career as a nuclear engineer, specifically in the repair and retrofitting of power plants, before enrolling in the University of Michigan's Library and Information Science program, from which he earned his Masters in Information and Library Studies in 1992. He currently works at the University of Michigan's library, but since his publication of Two-Fisted Science, a collection of stories from the history of science in graphic form, he has continued to write science-related comics. Ottaviani's work includes Dignifying Science (about women scientists), Fallout (about the creation of the atomic bomb), Suspended in Language (about physicist Niels Bohr) Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards (about Paleontology), and now Feynman. He also has a book forthcming about primatologists Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birute Galdikas.
About Leland Myrick:
Leland Myrick is an author an illustrator. In addition to Feynman, he published The Sweet Collection, which collected five issues of his eponymous critically acclaimed comic book; Bright Elegy, a graphic novel for which Myrick won a Xeric Foundation Grant; and Missouri Boy, his autobiographical graphic novel.
About Jim Ottaviani:
Jim Ottaviani began his career as a nuclear engineer, specifically in the repair and retrofitting of power plants, before enrolling in the University of Michigan's Library and Information Science program, from which he earned his Masters in Information and Library Studies in 1992. He currently works at the University of Michigan's library, but since his publication of Two-Fisted Science, a collection of stories from the history of science in graphic form, he has continued to write science-related comics. Ottaviani's work includes Dignifying Science (about women scientists), Fallout (about the creation of the atomic bomb), Suspended in Language (about physicist Niels Bohr) Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards (about Paleontology), and now Feynman. He also has a book forthcming about primatologists Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birute Galdikas.
About Leland Myrick:
Leland Myrick is an author an illustrator. In addition to Feynman, he published The Sweet Collection, which collected five issues of his eponymous critically acclaimed comic book; Bright Elegy, a graphic novel for which Myrick won a Xeric Foundation Grant; and Missouri Boy, his autobiographical graphic novel.
Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.
