Richard Feynman approached complex problems in atomic particle physics the same way he fixed radios as a thirteen-year-old during the Depression. He mentally put himself inside the problem, visualizing radio signals coursing through the components of the radio or later subatomic particles traveling backwards and forwards through space and time. A key figure in the development of the atomic bomb by age twenty-four, Feynman decided after the war that he would only work on things that were fun. He conjured up intuitive pictures to replace laborious calculations to solve problems, but once the challenge was gone he moved on. Feynman received the Nobel Prize in 1965 jointly with two other physicists for explaining the forces holding nuclei together, but he also made seminal contributions to superconductivity, quarks, and nanotechnology. His engaging lectures captivated a generation of physicists, but the public knows him for solving the Challenger shuttle disaster. Book jacket.