Richard Feynman

As one of the twentieth century's most illustrious physicists, Richard Feynman was well-known for a variety of accomplishments. He began his career as a group leader on the Manhattan Project, which led to the construction of the first atomic weapon. Hans Bethe, the project's scientific head who received the 1967 Nobel Prize in Physics (two years after Feynman), was cited as saying about what distinguished his protégé: "There are two varieties of talent. Ordinary geniuses do extraordinary things, but they left you with the impression that you, too, might if you pushed hard enough. Then there are mages, who do feats that you have no clue how they accomplish. Feynman was a sorcerer."

When Richard Feynman played the bongos and began singing about orange juice, he captivated the public imagination. He was a lighthearted, gregarious practical joker who traveled throughout America on lengthy car excursions. At points, his oxygen sucking hubris irritated others, and his staged sexism seems very different to current eyes.

Feynman also will be recognized for his classroom instruction: the lectures he presented to Caltech sophomores in 1962 established the gold standard for physics education and eventually made millions of dollars worldwide when released as a three-volume series.

Years: 1918 - 1988

Achievements:

• Feynman path integral
• Feynman diagrams