Review: Feynman by Jim Ottaviani and Leland Myrick

Feynman - Jim Ottaviani (w) Leland Myrick (a)
First Second, $29.99, 978-1-59643-259-8

The work of a biographer can be difficult, even given a prize subject like Nobel laureat Richard Feynman.  As a physicist, so much of what was interesting about Feynman was internal and theoretical and the passion for his field was only truly conveyed when hearing the great man talk.  So, a retelling of his life story is liable to leave us cold, given that not much of what he did was inherently exciting, more the way that he did it.  It’s to his credit that Jim Ottaviani decided to rather craft Feynman as a character in a biographical comic (a biomic?) with artist Leland Myrick.

Much of the material in here comes from Feynman’s own recollections of his life and is presented in the same not-quite linear manner, dancing from time-to-time, subject-to-subject, in true, rambling oral tradition.  That’s not to say that the creators didn’t do their homework, the bibliography at the end of the book cites over thirty books consulted in the process of writing and drawing Feynman.  The result is a work that feels like an entire life, told with the wit and charm of its subject, and isn’t afraid to tackle the more complex areas of Feynman’s work, nor the more uncomfortable aspects of his life.

In fact, for that the authors have a clear affection for their subject, he still comes across as something of a creep.  It’s a common trait among successful academics that their social skills are somewhat lacking, but to see Feynman watch his wife die in arms and respond without any semblance of grief; or witness him, as a professor, hitting on young students in the library is incredibly off-putting.  Even though Feynman referred to himself as a “curious character”, some of his actions are downright disturbing.  While his work in quantum electrodynamics (QED) may stand as a monumental breakthrough in physics, Feynman makes us question whether the man himself was worthy of the same praise.

It’s his work, and the pursuit of it that takes up most of the pages here, though.  The cool, detached line of Myrick’s art is perfect for this, especially when diagrams, formulae and calculations begin to encroach upon (and often take over) the scenes from life.  The almost diagrammatical style of his characters makes the two naturally interchangeable. Since Feynman’s work was so visual (he himself being a synaesthete) it’s appropriate, and indeed helpful to our understanding, to see it laid out in comic form.  If it seems improbable to have advanced physics distilled down to an easily-digested form like this, that’s almost exactly what Feynman wrestled with himself.  In one of his more humanizing moments, while recovering from cancer surgery, he takes up a challenge from his friend to explain QED to her.  In a tragic turn of fate, she dies before Feynman can complete his refinement, and it is through the subsequent lectures given in her memory that the world at large has come to know his work.

The end conclusion that Feynman comes to is that understanding is not important, but rather simply knowing and being able to appreciate the forces and processes at work in the universe.  Similarly, with this book Ottaviani and Myrick abandon any attempts to explain Feynman’s eccentric, anti-social behavior, but through exploring his life with him, we come to know him better and can appreciate exactly what a series of squiggles on a blackboard did for the world.

-- Gavin Lees

Posted in: Gavin Lees,Review