According to Feynman in the preface to his lectures, “The special problem we tried to get at with these lectures was to maintain the interest of the very enthusiastic and rather smart students coming out of the high schools and into Caltech. They have heard a lot about how interesting and exciting physics is… [but b]y the end of two years of our previous course, many would be very discouraged because there were really very few grand, new, modern ideas presented to them.”
To remedy this problem Feynman tailored his lectures to meet the needs of curious, ambitious minds while also catering to those that craved fundamental understanding. By teasing the glimmer of advanced concepts out of basic principles, Feynman provided a stimulating series of lectures that were not only good enough to be passed down for half-a-century but also gave insight into the nature of scientific exploration.
Though the Feynman lectures have been available in print since 1964 Caltech just published an HTML5 version of the landmark text. With it students and professionals across the globe will have free access to some of the most illuminating lectures on the fundamentals of modern physics.
While the Feynman Lectures are a hallmark of excellent scientific education, even their creator knew they had limitations. In fact, Feynman himself said, “I don't know how good the lectures really are. The whole thing was essentially an experiment. And if I did it again I wouldn't do it the same way.”
Still, whatever its flaws, one could do worse in looking for a way to brush up on physics. For me, it seems obvious to turn to such a great mind to learn – especially when that person has had such an impact on their field of study.
Source: Caltech