The Feynman Lectures on Computation
The Feynman Lectures on Computation by Richard Feynmanby Richard Feynman
Shares rank 6 of 28 computer science textbooks by recommenders
Recommended as engaging, up-to-date lecture notes that complement textbooks, with clear explanations of computability, information theory, entropy and thermodynamics.
Recommended as engaging, up-to-date lecture notes that complement textbooks, with clear explanations of computability, information theory, entropy and thermodynamics.
9 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 78%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 3.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Engaging, entertaining lecture notes
“Therefore his lecture notes are engaging and entertaining like no others, and a perfect complementary text to normal text books.”
Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Feynman's Hughes Lectures: 950 pages of notes” “I really really enjoyed it.”
Comment from 11 Feb 2026 in “The Feynman Lectures on Physics (online edition)” Clear explanations of difficult concepts
“There's some really great explanations in there of computability, information theory, entropy, thermodynamics”
Comment from 10 Feb 2026 in “The Feynman Lectures on Physics (online edition)” “feynman explains it very well to a laymen audience”
Comment from 11 Feb 2026 in “The Feynman Lectures on Physics (online edition)” Still relevant and up to date
“A surprising amount of the book is still relevant”
Comment from 14 Sep 2026 in “Distributed Systems Classics (2017)” “It's quite stunning how up to date they are.”
Comment from 11 Feb 2026 in “The Feynman Lectures on Physics (online edition)”
Other computer science textbooks people recommend
The four most recommended other computer science textbooks, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programsby Abelson and Sussman | 55 | 5 | 92% | 12 | — | Approved |
| The Art of Computer Programmingby Donald E. Knuth | 28 | 6 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programsby Abelson and Sussman | 12 | 0 | 100% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Quantum Computation and Quantum Informationby Nielsen and Chuang | 12 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| The Feynman Lectures on Computationby Richard FeynmanThis page | 7 | 2 | 78% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 9 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“A surprising amount of the book is still relevant”
“the section on primality testing with Fermat's test should at least make a shout out to Carmichael numbers”
“feynman explains it very well to a laymen audience”
“I really really enjoyed it.”
“It's quite stunning how up to date they are.”
“There's some really great explanations in there of computability, information theory, entropy, thermodynamics”
“Several thought experiments and constructs he would present in the lectures will elucidate/challenge a foundational concept”
“His pedagogy isn't great; my main criticism is that he isn't very incisive.”
“Therefore his lecture notes are engaging and entertaining like no others, and a perfect complementary text to normal text books.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.