After I gleaned what information I could, I returned the book and my friend started talking about the author, how he came to lecture for them at M.I.T., and that he was a fascinating person. He said that he even got to meet him (Feynman) after the lecture. Of course none of this meant anything to me, and I figured it had merely been the admiration of a physics student to some great professor. But now I understand what my friend must have known and couldn't convey to me.
I sort of forgot that whole episode and it seems that in 1991 I happened to be watching PBS and the show was something about an adventure to a place called Tuva. It seemed interesting so I coutinued to watch it. The name Richard Feynman was mentioned and I perked up, having remembered the name on the physics book. As I continued to watch, I began to realize that Richard Feynman was the person who was being interviewed as he told the story about Tannu Tuva. I was a little awed and amazed that THIS was the same guy that had given the physics lectures that I had used in my research. I went to my friend the next day (the one who had loaned me the book years before) and told him what I had seen. He was amused and actually he also knew of Tuva for some reason. So now I understood and he understood that I understood.
But that was the end of it for the time-being, and I didn't think any more about it. Then late in 1994, probably December as best I can recall, I was searching for something somewhere, either in an online service or an encyclopedia, I can't remember. It was one of those searches that takes you bouncing from one article to another and by the time you've finished you can't remember where you've
been (or perhaps what you were looking for in the first place). But somewhere during the search I came across a bibliography that included a reference to a book entitled "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" and it got me to thinking, hmm... a book by Richard Feynman. I wrote the title on a piece of paper and stuck it in my wallet, and the next time I was in a bookstore I pulled out the paper and went hunting for the book. There it was! I began reading and decided I MUST have that book. I went home and read all night and the next few nights and finished the book. I found out there was a sequel, "What do YOU Care What Other People Think?" so I went back and bought that one too. This time I read a little slower so I could savor what I was reading. But finally I was at the end and there on the back page was a reference to a place where I could order audio recordings of some of the stories I had read, actually spoken by Richard himself. Well, 32 cents is nothing in a quest for information so I wrote to the address. It wasn't long afterward that I received a brown envelope from Ralph Leighton with several pages of information and something called the Tuva Trader. I realized that I was not the only one in the world interested in Richard Feynman and that in essence there was a loose-knit network in existence. After absorbing several more books, an audio tape and CD, and a video, I felt about as close as I could get to Richard Feynman.
Not too long after (early 1995), the computer service I was using (CompuServe) announced that they had full Internet access now, and I could download a package called NetLauncher which would enable me to access Internet. I knew what Internet was and how to send mail on it, but the recent developments that people talked about were beyond my comprehension. Nevertheless I got the NetLauncher and before I knew it I was on Internet, sitting at a search prompt. The prompt beckoned me to type any word or phrase. I thought for a minute, then typed TUVA. I do not know why, but I did. After several seconds, I was given a list of things. I looked at all of them, and eventually ended up finding
The Friends of Tuva. There it was! A place on the Internet where Feynman and Tuva fans could congregate! Phrases like "Far out, awesome, and cool" ran through my head. And that brings us to the present...Well, sort-of. I did finally figure out how to browse the WWW (Gee, like it takes any talent :) and I did figure out how to use HTML, so you could read this. I've switched to a real Internet Service since then too...
So that's my story. Before I end though, I would like to answer my own question, "What's the attraction about Richard Feynman?" After all, many great and famous people have come and gone, and they don't have any kind of following. Why, then, are so many interested in Richard Feynman? I can only answer for myself. For me, it is because I feel as though in many ways he and I were of the same frame of mind. When I read about him, I felt as though I was reading about ME in some ways. And I think also that his attitude for adventure reconfirmed my belief that life is full of adventures if you'll only take a dare and pursue them. Too many people get caught up in life and their careers and forget that there's a fascinating world all around us. We're not meant to work and drudge for 45 years and then die. We're meant to live and explore and discover and not be afraid of the world. I think that maybe a lot of people woke up to that fact care of RPF and in a way he is a sort of beacon for personal liberation. That's the only explanation I have, and I think the proof is shown by the many people who have dared to visit Tuva after reading about it care of Richard's books or the Tuva Trader. No one ever dared before to visit that place, and now there's an interesting cultural exchange with Tuva, thanks to Richard's dream.
But I tell you this: Many of us have a spirit of adventure locked inside us. If something comes along and unlocks it, run with your dreams! Tuva is one place, but we don't all have to go to Tuva. Whatever place inspires you, go to that place and experience your own dreams fulfilled. I may not ever go to Tuva, but because of the inspiration I've received from those who have gone there, I have enlarged my list of "places to visit" to include places I hadn't dreamed of visiting before.
To end, I give you this quote: "You have no responsibility to live up to what other people think you ought to accomplish." -Richard Feynman (1918-1988)
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard P. Feynman
What do YOU Care What Other People Think? by Richard P. Feynman
No Ordinary Genius by Christopher Sykes
Tuva or Bust! by Ralph Leighton
I have located a world map circa 1943 which shows the country known as Tannu Tuva.
This map, I believe, is similar to what Richard Feynman remembered when he was discussing the Tuvan stamps with Ralph Leighton.
For your pleasure, I am including a rather large JPEG of the 1943 Tuva map, and for comparison, I am including a 1992 map of the same area.
Note: Don't try to find Kyzyl on the old map; it is named Guzel Khoto!
1943 Tuva map (64 kb)
1992 Tuva map (49 kb)
Back to John Cirillo's home page
To my list of Feynman links
