We are at the very beginning of time for the human race. It is not unreasonable that we grapple with problems. But there are tens of thousands of years in the future. Our responsibility is to do what we can, learn what we can, improve the solutions, and pass them on. It is our responsibility to leave the people of the future a free hand. In the impetuous youth of humanity, we can make grave errors that can stunt our growth for a long time. This we will do if we say we have the answers now, so young and ignorant as we are. If we suppress all discussion, all criticism, proclaiming “This is the answer, my friends; man is saved!” we will doom humanity for a long time to the chains of authority, confined to the limits of our present imagination. It has been done so many times before.
It is our responsibility as scientists, knowing the great progress which comes from a satisfactory philosophy of ignorance, the great progress which is the fruit of freedom of thought, to proclaim the value of this freedom; to teach how doubt is not to be feared but welcomed and discussed; and to demand this freedom as our duty to all coming generations.
*A public address given at the 1955 autumn meeting of the National Academy of Sciences.
*I would now say, “It is late—although not too late—for them to get the spirit…”
Index
acceleration safety cutoff system, flaws in, 228
Accident Analysis group, 179
accident investigation, technique for, 128–29
Acheson, David C., 131, 179, 196 202, 203 127
Acropolis, 94
actuators, computer systems, reliability, 235
adolescent years, 20–32
age of reason, 247
Air and Space Museum, National, 138–39
Ajzenberg, Fay 73–74
Aldrich, Arnold D., 126
Alvarez, Luis, 146
American Association of Physics Teachers, 73, 74
Apollo accident, 199
archeology, Greek, 94–95
Armstrong, Neil, 124, 126, 127, 129, 151, 195, 200
assembly crews
management view of, 170–71
workers’ views of job, 171–75
Atlas, 89
Atoms for Peace Conference, 64, 67
augmented spark igniter (ASI), flaws in, 228
Augsberry, Dr. (high school mathematics teacher), 32
authority
and form, 18
questioning, 28–29
and values, 248
Aviation Week and Space Technology, 125
Bacher, Robert (Bob), 64
Baudoin, King of Belgium, 84
bearing spalling, 228
Beggs, James F. (administrator of NASA), 215
Bell Telephone Laboratories, 39
Berkeley, 162
Bessel functions, 59
Bethe, Hans, 47, 98
Bethe, Henry, 98, 100n
Blondel, André, 147
blowby, O-ring, 135, 141, 223, 225
Bohr, Niels, 85
Boisjoly, Roger, 163
bottom-up design, of engines, 226
of shuttle software, 234
Bragg, William, 85
Brussels (Belgium), 83–88
bureaucracy, 90–91
bureaucracy
personal reactions to, 116–17
report preparation, 146–47
Burns, Jerry, 163, 164
Cable News Network (CNN), 154
California Institute of Technology, see Caltech
calligraphy, Chinese, 47–50
Caltech, 72, 116, 117, 156, 186, 206, 211, 221
certification, 229
criteria, deteriorating, 220–21
rules for, 232
initial, 229
Challenger accident, 113–248
Chrysler Company, 33–34
clevis, field joint, 150
Columbia, 32, 33
combustion chamber, flaws in, 228
communication, 246
as a bureaucratic tool, 214–15
of management with engineers, 182–83
within NASA, 212–13
computer systems (avionics), 232–36
concepts, and applications, 244–45
Cook, Richard C., 140–41, 144, 146, 150
Cornell University, 97, 99, 100, 102
costs
of modifying procedures, 173
of replacing software, 234
of top-down design, 226–27
of updating shuttle computers, 192–93
counting
and measuring time, 55–59
patterns for, 57–58
Covert, Eugene E., 127, 156, 163, 186
Crete, 97
cross talk, 190
culture, see also tradition
and values, 60–62
Davies, Richard (Dick), 117
Davis, B. K., 164–65
Deborah Hospital, 42
democracy and doubt, 247
Descartes, René, 28–29
Design, Development and Production panel, 179
discrimination
religious, 33
sexual, 41–42, 72–75
and stereotypes, 75
Disturbing the Universe (Dyson), 97n
documentation of shuttle performance, 221
doubt, 245
dreaming, 53, 54
Dyson, Freeman, 97n
letters of, 97–100
Eddington, Arthur, 72
education and culture, 60–62
enabling power of science, 241
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 12, 29
engineering judgment, 183n, 222
estimates of engine failure probability, 229
estimates of shuttle failure probability, 182–83, 187–88
Eratosthenes, 95
erosion, O-ring, 121f, 122, 135, 136f, 141, 223, 224–25
esthetics
and reason, 48
scientific aspects of, 11
and scientific information, 242–43
executive order, defining work of presidential commission, 124
external tank (ET), 126
FAA
certification practices, 229
certification trial success, 230
criteria for success, 231
safety rules, 186
Fabriola, Queen of Belgium, 84
family
Carl (son), 88n, 95, 100
Chuck (nephew), 155, 157
father-in-law (Arlene’s father), 50
Frances (cousin), 154, 157, 209
Joan (sister), 12, 48–50, 73–74, 203–4
Lucille (mother), 12, 19
Melville (father), 12–16
Michelle (daughter), 93, 94
Federal Aviation Administration, see FAA
Fermi, Enrico, 47
ferrite-core computers, 234
Feynman, Arlene, 25, 28–30, 32–53
Feynman, Carl, 88n, 95, 100, 100n
Feynman, Gweneth, 76–82 87n, 117, 118, 157
Feynman, Joan, 12n, 48–50, 73–74 203–4
Feynman, Lucille, 12, 19
Feynman, Melville, 12–16
Feynman, Michelle, 93, 94, 100n
Feynman Lectures m Physics, 72
Fichtel (foreman, assembly crew), 172–75
field joint, 113, 115f, 120, 121f, 159
model of, 149f
flight readiness reviews, 232
Fuchs, Klaus, 50
fuel tank, shuttle, 114f
Galileo (Jupiter probe), 180
Gast, Harold, 24, 30–32
Gell-Mann, Murray, 64, 83
Geneva (Switzerland), 63–68
Goldschmidt, Herman, 69–71
Graham, William R. (Bill) (acting administrator, NASA), 116, 119, 123, 126, 130, 131, 132, 138–39, 140, 144, 184n, 195, 215
Grand Hotel (Warsaw), 88–93
gravity conference, 91–92
Greece, 93–97
Hansen, Grant L. (editor), 198
Heisenberg, Werner, 85
Hibbs, Albert R. (Al), 117, 119
high-frequency vibration, 184–85, 228
high-pressure fuel lurbopump (HPFTP), 126
reliability of, 227
flaws in, 228
high-pressure oxygen turbopump (HPOTP), 126
flaws in, 228
Hollings, Ernest (Senator, SC), 175–76
Hotel Amigo, 83
Hotel City, 63–68
Hotz, Robert B., 125, 127, 169–70, 195, 202, 204
Hughes Aircraft Company, 116
Illiapoulos, Professor, 93–94
Independent Solid Rocket Motor Design Oversight Committee, 199
infinity, 101
intellectual value of science, 241
Iran-Contra hearings, 212–13
Iseokitsu (Japan), 77–79
Japan, 76–82
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, see JPL
Johnson Space Center, 190, 221
joint rotation, 133, 134f, 136f
JPL, 119–22, 119n, 128, 177–78, 186, 221
Jupiter probe, 180
Kapp, Jack, 163, 164
Keel, Alton G., Jr. (Al), 162, 166, 198, 204–5, 212, 217–18
recommendations of commission, 202
report distribution, 189, 196
Kennedy, John F. (President), 176n
Kennedy Space Center, 113, 129, 159–76, 186
Kingsbury, James E., 180
Kissinger, Henry, 119
Kiwi, Feynman dog, 87, 88, 92
knowledge
kinds of, 14
observing multiple mental activities, 58–59
Kutyna, General Donald J., 124, 126, 127, 128–29, 139–40, 149,
Kutyna (continued) 151, 155–56, 179, 180, 194–95, 204–5, 208, 219
Lamberth (manager, rocket assembly), 170–71, 174, 189
Launch Abort Safety Panel (LASP), 221
Lawrence High School (Nassau County), 32
leak test, 135n
port, 140, 144f
learning
about esthetics, 48
internal processes, 59
patterns in, 12
and teaching, 101–2
Lee, Meemong, 177
Leff, David, 24, 31
Lehrer, James, 210
LeMaître, Abbé George Éduoard, 86
letters
Dyson’s about Feynman, 97–102
to Gweneth, 157
from Athens, 93–97
from Brussels, 83–88
from Warsaw, 88–93
to Gweneth from Henry Bethe, 100–103
Lewis, Sinclair, 31
Lifer, Charles E. (JPL), 122
liquid hydrogen (LH), 126
liquid oxygen (LOX), 126
Lockheed, instructions for shuttle engines, 186
Lorenz, Konrad, 101
Los Alamos, 44
problem solving at, 213
Louvain University, 85
Lovingood, Judson A. (manager), 126, 181–83, 183n
Lund, Robert, 163, 164, 177
McAuliffe, Christa, 168, 236, 236n
McDonald, Allan J., 141, 143–44, 150
MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour, 206, 208
management
estimates of shuttle reliability, 236
view of assembly crews, 170–71
Manhattan Project, 41
Marshall Space Center, 186, 221
engineering briefing, 187–88
estimates of engine failure, 179, 229
Mason, Gerald D., 163
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, see MIT
memory, of shuttle computers, 190–91, 233–34
Metropolis, Nicholas (Nick), 45, 49
Mission Planning and Operations group, 179
MIT, 18, 32, 33, 34, 100
Möbius strip, 29–30
model
computer, performance analysis of O-ring, 135, 138
of O-ring erosion, 225
Moore, Jesse W., 126
Moore, Dr. Nicholas (JPL), 221
Morton Thiokol Company, 113, 133, 134–35, 141, 162–63, 177, 213, 216
Boisjoly, Roger, 163
Burns, Jerry, 163, 164
Kapp,Jack, 163, 164
Lund, Robert, 163, 164, 177
MacDonald, Allan J., 141, 143–44
Mason, Gerald D., 163
Thompson, Arnie, 163
Mountain-forming day (Oberlin), 49
Mulloy, Lawrence B., 141, 149–51, 153, 177, 213, 216
NASA, 113, 132–38, 162–63, 221
Aldrich, Arnold D., 126
certification rules, initial, 229
Cook, Richard C, 140–41, 144, 146, 150
Davis, B. K., 164–65
estimates of engine failure, 179–80, 229
Fichtel (foreman, assembly crew), 172–75
Kingsbury, James E., 180
Lamberth (manager, rocket assembly), 170–71, 174, 189
Lovingood, Judson A. (manager), 126, 181–83, 183n
Moore, Jesse W., 126
Mulloy, Lawrence B., 141, 149–51, 153, 177, 213
Stevenson, Charles G. (Charlie), 161, 164, 178
Weeks, L. Michael, 133–38
National Academy of Sciences, 202, 240n
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, see NASA
New York Times, 139, 140, 194
New Zealand lectures, 97, 97n
Nixon, Richard (President), 119
Nobel Prize, 77n, 87n
Noto Peninsula (Japan), 79–82
N-ray hoax, 147
Oberlin College, 48
Office of Management and Budget, 162
Office of Safety, Reliability, and Quality Assurance, 200
OMB, Office of Management and Budget, 162
Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 44, 85
O-ring, 120, 133–35, 134f
ice-water demonstration, 152f
origin of speculation about, 219
performance model, 138
Palace of Culture and Science (Warsaw), 92
Parker Seal Company, 134
Parthenon, 94
patterns, and counting, 57–58
peace, 246
Peierls, Rudolph, 98
Perrin, J., 85
Physical Society, 63
plutonium, power supply, 221
political pressure for launch, 157–58, 168–69, 216
precision and approximation, 29
Pre-launch Activities group, 179
presidential commission, 113–237
connections of members, 154–58
fact finding by, 119–53
investigative process, 159–76
members of, 127
recommendations of, 199–205
report
formal presentation of, 207f
preparation, 195–98
working groups of, 179
Princeton, 34, 39, 41, 54–55
probability, subjective, at NASA, 222–23
purge check valve, flaws in, 228
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (Feynman), 97n
radioactive thermal generator (RTG), 221
reaction control systems, reliability of, 235
recommendations
presidential commission, 199–205
seals report, 137f
redundancy in shuttle computers, 191–92, 233
reliability
of high-pressure fuel turbopump, 227
management estimates of, 236
Office of Safety, Reliability, and Quality Assurance, 200
of reaction control systems, 235
of shuttle computer hardware, 234
of sensors in shuttle systems, 235
of shuttle, 220–37
religion
Buddhist proverb, 241
formal training (Feynman’s), 25–28
religious experience in science, 243–44
Ride, Sally K., 124, 124n, 127, 131, 138, 156, 163, 179, 190, 196
Rocketdyne, 186, 221
&
nbsp; estimates of engine failure, 229
Rogers, William P., 119, 124–25, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 143–44, 151, 153, 154–55, 156–57, 162, 163, 164, 175–76, 177, 178, 194, 208, 210–11, 212, 215–16
recommendations of commission, 200–202, 204
Royal Olympic Hotel (Athens), 93
Rummel, Robert W., 127
safety boards, 199
safety factor
deteriorating, 230
for O-ring failure, 224
scheduling
and pressure to launch, 214
and shuttle safety, 236–37
Scientific American, The, 94, 96
Sears Roebuck and Company, 46
sensors, shuttle systems, reliability of, 235
shuttle
computer operation of, 190–92
description of, 113
engineering briefing, JPL, 119–22
engineering briefing for Feynman, 132–38
engine specifications, 227–29
failure, probability of, 179–80
flame from, 142f–43
launch information, 161–62
reliability of, 220–37
responsibility for engines, 186
reworking components for reuse, 166–67
smoke from, 145f, 159–61, 160f
Shuttle Transportation System Safety Advisory Panel, 199–200
simulator, computer checking on, 190
social responsibility
and ignorance, 248
and scientific exploration, 240
software
bottom-up design, 234
for shuttle computers, 192–94, 232–33
verification of shuttle, 234–35
solid-fuel rocket boosters (SRBs), 114f, 126, 221–25
Solomon, Jerry, 177
Sound and Symbol in Chinese, 47
space shuttle main engines (SSMEs), 126, 225–32
Space Shuttle Program, Air Force, 156
Stapler, Robert, 24
stereotypes, 12n, 75
Stevenson, Charles G. (Charlie), 164, 178
subsynchronous whirl, 184, 228
success, predicting, 223–24
Sutter, Joseph F., 127, 163, 179
Tamm, Igor, 64
tang, field joint, 150
Tartaglia, Niccolo, 95
temperature
effect on O-rings, 140
at launch pad, 161
analysis of, 165–66
and O-ring incidents, 137f
Thinking Machines Company, 100n, 117
'What Do You Care What Other People Think?' Page 21
