I want to explain to you (viewers) why I am reading "The Feynman Lectures on Physics". I am reading this book for two main reasons: firstly, of course, to expand my understanding of physics (since my dream is to become an aerospace engineer and CEO of an aerospace company) beyond what is taught in school, and secondly to follow the mental and logical processes of the mind behind one of the people I admire as a role model. I am genuinely excited for the experience I would gain from this journey with Feynman's thoughts and teachings.
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The sense that I was reading a philosophy lecture rather than a physics lecture got even stronger in this chapter. But I don't think this is a bad thing at all, since I believe that the true meaning of 'understanding' something is not to be able to memorize some arbitrary equations and numbers, but rather to be able to explain why and how such equations or values are derived at the first place. Moreover, given that this chapter was mostly focused on the history of physics from pre-1920 to Feynman's time, it seems like it was inevitable for the lecture to be based on words and stories. Whatever subject that be, learning the 'history' of how that subject developed into its current paradigm is very important to be mindful of as base knowledge.
I also learnt a lot of new things in this chapter – from the basic idea of subatomic particles, particles by which their interactions between each other account for existence of nuclear forces 'inside' the nucleus, to the very basics of quantum physics. To be honest, I got lost during the part where Feynman explains the detailed behaviors of the subatomic particles (such as mesons and baryons). Below are the notes I made for this chapter, and I will come back in part (3) where I will share my notes on 'Chapter 4. Conservation of Energy'.
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