I think it might still be worth sharing with caveats.
I got a lot out of reading Feynman as a 14-year-old girl. In particular, I was spending much of my time on creative projects (making props for theatre shows, drawing comics, etc.) even though I grudgingly felt like I’d need to work towards a STEM career to be more useful. His stories about painting and picking up random library books and learning languages (another hobby of mine at the time) made STEM careers seem much more compatible with the kinds of thinking I enjoyed.
That said, I have much more mixed feelings upon re-reading the book as an adult. Stories that seemed like harmless good fun now read as incredibly inconsiderate.
For example, Feynman describes playing a prank on a waitress at a local restaurant by putting her tip under an inverted full glass of water. When she goes to collect her tip, she spills the water. He shows her how she could have avoided the spill by slipping a sheet of paper under the glass and carefully sliding it to the edge of the table. The next time he goes to the restaurant, he inverts an empty glass, and is amused to watch the waitress very carefully and slowly slip paper underneath. I don’t find this funny, especially since he describes how busy and rushed the waitresses are, but he clearly did.
The book also includes some stories about how he’d pick up women at bars in somewhat manipulative ways, but that didn’t faze me as a teenager (I think I chalked it up to ambient sexist and adversarial relationship norms, which aren’t unique to Feynman’s writing) and still bothers me less than the above story.
I think sharing with caveats can make sense. But I don’t think it’s a good idea for a teacher to recommend this book without clarifying that they do not endorse the views by the author.
My vague memory of me reading it at 16 is that I found a lot of the stories interesting, but was also put off by his attitude.
I think it might still be worth sharing with caveats.
I got a lot out of reading Feynman as a 14-year-old girl. In particular, I was spending much of my time on creative projects (making props for theatre shows, drawing comics, etc.) even though I grudgingly felt like I’d need to work towards a STEM career to be more useful. His stories about painting and picking up random library books and learning languages (another hobby of mine at the time) made STEM careers seem much more compatible with the kinds of thinking I enjoyed.
That said, I have much more mixed feelings upon re-reading the book as an adult. Stories that seemed like harmless good fun now read as incredibly inconsiderate.
For example, Feynman describes playing a prank on a waitress at a local restaurant by putting her tip under an inverted full glass of water. When she goes to collect her tip, she spills the water. He shows her how she could have avoided the spill by slipping a sheet of paper under the glass and carefully sliding it to the edge of the table. The next time he goes to the restaurant, he inverts an empty glass, and is amused to watch the waitress very carefully and slowly slip paper underneath. I don’t find this funny, especially since he describes how busy and rushed the waitresses are, but he clearly did.
The book also includes some stories about how he’d pick up women at bars in somewhat manipulative ways, but that didn’t faze me as a teenager (I think I chalked it up to ambient sexist and adversarial relationship norms, which aren’t unique to Feynman’s writing) and still bothers me less than the above story.
I think sharing with caveats can make sense. But I don’t think it’s a good idea for a teacher to recommend this book without clarifying that they do not endorse the views by the author.
My vague memory of me reading it at 16 is that I found a lot of the stories interesting, but was also put off by his attitude.