History of Science & Technology, Including the Life and Letters of Richard P. Feynman, and Space Exploration

Property from the Family of Dr. Joan Feynman

[Feynman, Richard P.]

Collection of Academic Offer Letters Made to Feynman, From Princeton, Berkeley, and MIT

Lot Closed

December 13, 08:12 PM GMT

Estimate

5,000 - 8,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

[FEYNMAN, RICHARD P.]

A collection of six letters written to Richard Feynman, offering him admission to, or assistantships at, various institutions, including his Princeton graduate school admission letter and research assistantship offer:

—Typed letter signed ("L.P. Eisenhart"), to Richard Feynman ("Mr. Feynman"), on Princeton University letterhead, April 1, 1939. 1 page on single sheet (8 1/2 x 11 in.), with extensive manuscript notations in pencil in Feynman's hand to verso, relating to ethics. Creases where previously folded.

—Typed letter signed ("H.D. Smyth"), to Richard Feynman ("Mr. Feynman"), on Princeton University letterhead, March 9, 1939. 1 page on single sheet (8 1/2 x 11 in.).Creases where folded. [WITH]: Original cover addressed to Mr. Richard P. Feynman, postmarked Mar. 11, 1939, Princeton, N.J.

—Typed letter signed ("H.D. Smyth"), to Richard Feynman ("Mr. Feynman"), on Princeton University letterhead, March 10, 1939. 1 page on single sheet (5 1/2 x 8 1/2 in.). Creases where previously folded.

—Typed letter signed ("T.P. Pitre"), to Richard Feynman ("Mr. Feynman"), on MIT letterhead, July 6, 1939. 1 page on single sheet (8 1/2 x 11 in.). Creases where folded. [WITH]: cover addressed to Mr. R.P. Feynman, postmarked Jul. 6, 1938, Cambridge, Mass.

—Typed letter signed ("Raymond T. Birge"), to Richard Feynman ("Mr. Feynman"), on University of California, Berkeley letterhead, March 1, 1939. 1 page on single sheet (8 1/2 x 11 in.). Creases where folded. [WITH]: cover addressed to Mr. Richard P. Feynman, postmarked Mar. 1, 1939, Berkeley, Calif.

—Typed letter signed ("Raymond T. Birge"), to Richard Feynman ("Mr. Feynman"), on University of California, Berkeley letterhead, March 11, 1939. 1 page on single sheet (8 1/2 x 11 in.). Creases where folded. [WITH]: cover addressed to Mr. Richard P. Feynman, postmarked Mar. 11, 1939, Berkeley, Calif.

RICHARD FEYNMAN'S ADMISSION LETTER FROM PRINCETON, WITH VARIOUS ASSISTANTSHIP OFFERS FROM PRINCETON, BERKELEY, AND MIT

"When I was an undergraduate at MIT I loved it. I thought it was a great place, and I wanted to go to graduate school there too, of course. But when I went to Professor Slater and told him of my intentions, he said, "We won't let you in here.""(Richard P. Feynman, "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!", p. 71)

After a stellar undergraduate career, Feynman wanted to stay at MIT and work with John Slater on his Ph.D. However, Professor Slater was dead set against Feynman staying, believing he needed to expand his horizons. Indeed, after he saw the cyclotron at Princeton, "the whole idealism that MIT was the greatest school collapsed, because I recognized in that [cyclotron] room the same kind of atmosphere I had in my laboratory at home. I loved it and felt that I had come to the right place, and I realized right away that Slater had been right" (Mehra, "Richard Phillips Feynman," p. 104).

In the letter included here from L.P. Eisenhart dated March 9, 1939, he references the fact that Feynman was originally supposed to work with Eugene Wigner. Of course, he ended up studying under John Archibald Wheeler, who became a lifelong friend and intellectual partner.

Raymond Birge, who offers Richard Feynman a teaching assistantship at Berkeley in a letter included here, would later delay in hiring him as a professor at Berkeley after his stint at Los Alamos. This was to the great consternation of Birge's fellow faculty member, Robert Oppenheimer, who had vouched for his brilliance.

REFERENCES:

Mehra, Jagdish. "Richard Phillips Feynman, 11 May 1918 — 15 February 1988." Biogr. Mems Fell. R. Soc. Lond. 48 (2002), p. 104.