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The Feynman Lectures on Physics

The Feynman Lectures on Physics by Feynman, Leighton and Sands

by Feynman, Leighton and Sands

Hacker Approved

The most recommended of 13 physics textbooks

Recommended as a clear, intuitive physics text from a gifted teacher and a useful reference for readers with a solid background; critics find it hard to learn from.

Recommended as a clear, intuitive physics text from a gifted teacher and a useful reference for readers with a solid background; critics find it hard to learn from.

37 people gave an opinion

recommend it
34
criticize it
3
approval share
92%
Each figure is one person. RecommendsCriticizes

Recommended in 10 of 13 months

  1. November 2025: recommended
  2. December 2025: recommended
  3. January 2026: not recommended
  4. February 2026: recommended
  5. March 2026: recommended
  6. April 2026: not recommended
  7. May 2026: recommended
  8. June 2026: recommended
  9. July 2026: recommended
  10. August 2026: recommended
  11. September 2026: recommended
  12. October 2026: recommended
  13. November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)

Why it carries the badge

  • 34 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
  • 11 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
  • Recommended in 10 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, 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

  • Clear, intuitive teaching from Feynman

    “Good teachers like Feynman do a great job of it which is why their books are so highly valued.”

    Comment from 11 Feb 2026 in “The Feynman Lectures on Physics (online edition)”

    “Feynman was a uniquely gifted teacher that made things intuitive and simple.”

    Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Feynman's Hughes Lectures: 950 pages of notes”

    “His method of delivery is so clear I find it immensely relaxing.”

    Comment from 11 Feb 2026 in “The Feynman Lectures on Physics (online edition)”
  • Authoritative, checkable, citable source

    “but the content is his, as you can easily verify by going to The Feynman Lectures Website”

    Comment from 18 Feb 2026 in “Who Smeared Feynman”

    “Feynman is trusted because his lectures are texts we can check, argue with, and cite.”

    Comment from 31 Aug 2026 in “Show HN: Academa – Long-form STEM lecture videos generated by LLMs”

    “Feynman is the primary author of that book, for good reason.”

    Comment from 12 Feb 2026 in “The Feynman Lectures on Physics (online edition)”
  • Broad coverage of physics

    “write about all of physics in 1800 pages, using only 2 levels of hierarchical headings: chapters and A-level heads in the text”

    Comment from 12 Mar 2026 in “The modern formatting addiction in writing”

    “would give one the basics one would ever need”

    Comment from 13 Jul 2026 in “So you want to learn physics (second edition, 2021)”
  • Admired by many great physicists

    “one of the most (if not THE most) popular physics books ever written, and many great physicists sing its praises”

    Comment from 11 Feb 2026 in “The Feynman Lectures on Physics (online edition)”

    “I'd recommend everyone studying physics read his lectures and watch some interviews”

    Comment from 11 Feb 2026 in “Who Smeared Feynman”

    “many swore by his books, particularly for quantum, it was a bit of a secret”

    Comment from 11 Feb 2026 in “The Feynman Lectures on Physics (online edition)”

What people warn about

Each mark is one comment

  • Needs prior physics knowledge

    “It's not a book to marathon, unless you have a (almost) complete degree in Physics”

    Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Feynman's Hughes Lectures: 950 pages of notes”

    “It's a pleasure to read it but you must already read 1 to understand it.”

    Comment from 6 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: Would you read a statistics textbook?”
  • Hard to learn from

    “I never understood the appeal of Feynman and these Lectures”

    Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Feynman's Hughes Lectures: 950 pages of notes”

    “I never found his lectures easy to learn from”

    Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Feynman's Hughes Lectures: 950 pages of notes”

Other physics textbooks people recommend

The four most recommended other physics 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.

The Feynman Lectures on Physics by Feynman, Leighton and Sands compared with 4 alternatives
ProductRecommendCriticizeApprovalMonthsOwnedBadge
The Feynman Lectures on Physicsby Feynman, Leighton and SandsThis page34392%10—Approved
Course of Theoretical Physicsby Landau and Lifshitz8189%6——
Computational Physics (2nd Edition)by Giordano and Nakanishi7188%1——
General Relativityby Robert Wald60100%3——
Engineering Thermodynamics60100%1——
See all 13 physics textbooks, ranked

What people said

40 of the 45 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.

“what stands out in my mind are the Feynmann Lectures”

RecommendsComment from 29 Oct 2026 in “Ask HN: Which is the best textbook you have ever read?”

“Here is the relevant chapter from the Feynman lectures”

RecommendsComment from 7 Oct 2026 in “Nobel Prize in Physics 2026: Francis Halzen”

“Feynman describes molecular interactions beautifully”

RecommendsComment from 2 Oct 2026 in “Oxygen-deprived underwater zones may not be “dead zones” but clue to early life”

“Other times you get the Feynman Lectures.”

RecommendsComment from 22 Sep 2026 in “College Is Coming Apart After Successive, Overlapping Crises”

“It's a pleasure to read it but you must already read 1 to understand it.”

RecommendsComment from 6 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: Would you read a statistics textbook?”

“Feynman is trusted because his lectures are texts we can check, argue with, and cite.”

RecommendsComment from 31 Aug 2026 in “Show HN: Academa – Long-form STEM lecture videos generated by LLMs”

“Start somewhere. Go places. It's fun.”

RecommendsComment from 12 Aug 2026 in “The Essential Question: "What should I read next?"”

“would give one the basics one would ever need”

RecommendsComment from 13 Jul 2026 in “So you want to learn physics (second edition, 2021)”

“self studying through an entire course dramatically expanded my understanding”

RecommendsComment from 13 Jul 2026 in “So you want to learn physics (second edition, 2021)”

“learning to think like Feynman is useful when reasoning about large obscure systems”

RecommendsComment from 2 Jul 2026 in “What to Learn to Be a Graphics Programmer”

“There's a slightly simpler introduction to detailed perturbative planetary orbit calculations in Feynman's Lectures on Physics.”

RecommendsComment from 9 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Gravity – interactive solar-system simulator, from Newton to Einstein”

“interesting to read alongside this article”

RecommendsComment from 9 May 2026 in “What Causes Lightning? The Answer Keeps Getting More Interesting”

“write about all of physics in 1800 pages, using only 2 levels of hierarchical headings: chapters and A-level heads in the text”

RecommendsComment from 12 Mar 2026 in “The modern formatting addiction in writing”

“but the content is his, as you can easily verify by going to The Feynman Lectures Website”

RecommendsComment from 18 Feb 2026 in “Who Smeared Feynman”

“Feynman is the primary author of that book, for good reason.”

RecommendsComment from 12 Feb 2026 in “The Feynman Lectures on Physics (online edition)”

“The book follows those lectures closely.”

RecommendsComment from 12 Feb 2026 in “The Feynman Lectures on Physics (online edition)”

“Leighton definitely deserves a whole lot of respect for producing the work”

RecommendsComment from 11 Feb 2026 in “Who Smeared Feynman”

“the book didn't read like a transcript on its own”

RecommendsComment from 11 Feb 2026 in “Who Smeared Feynman”

“Leighton deserves the credit for this.”

RecommendsComment from 11 Feb 2026 in “Who Smeared Feynman”

“It's quite the accomplishment and one which I felt was a credit to everyone involved.”

RecommendsComment from 11 Feb 2026 in “Who Smeared Feynman”

“one of the most (if not THE most) popular physics books ever written, and many great physicists sing its praises”

RecommendsComment from 11 Feb 2026 in “The Feynman Lectures on Physics (online edition)”

“I'd recommend everyone studying physics read his lectures and watch some interviews”

RecommendsComment from 11 Feb 2026 in “Who Smeared Feynman”

“We might say this is the most important chapter in the whole series.”

RecommendsComment from 11 Feb 2026 in “The Feynman Lectures on Physics (online edition)”

“Feynman was such an amazing teacher of complex topics”

RecommendsComment from 11 Feb 2026 in “The Feynman Lectures on Physics (online edition)”

“His method of delivery is so clear I find it immensely relaxing.”

RecommendsComment from 11 Feb 2026 in “The Feynman Lectures on Physics (online edition)”

“He wrote and delivered the lectures.”

RecommendsComment from 11 Feb 2026 in “The Feynman Lectures on Physics (online edition)”

“Good teachers like Feynman do a great job of it which is why their books are so highly valued.”

RecommendsComment from 11 Feb 2026 in “The Feynman Lectures on Physics (online edition)”

“The Feynman lectures are obviously brilliant”

RecommendsComment from 11 Feb 2026 in “The Feynman Lectures on Physics (online edition)”

“many swore by his books, particularly for quantum, it was a bit of a secret”

RecommendsComment from 11 Feb 2026 in “The Feynman Lectures on Physics (online edition)”

“the many books published under his name that he did not in fact write”

CriticizesComment from 11 Feb 2026 in “The Feynman Lectures on Physics (online edition)”

“my only regret is that there are no problems”

MixedComment from 11 Feb 2026 in “The Feynman Lectures on Physics (online edition)”

“it makes for such wonderful reading! I think its not just an introduction to physics but to the scientific method itself.”

RecommendsComment from 10 Feb 2026 in “The Feynman Lectures on Physics (online edition)”

“the recordings here have the chat before and after the lecture which is fun”

RecommendsComment from 10 Feb 2026 in “The Feynman Lectures on Physics (online edition)”

“I never found his lectures easy to learn from”

CriticizesComment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Feynman's Hughes Lectures: 950 pages of notes”

“It's not a book to marathon, unless you have a (almost) complete degree in Physics”

MixedComment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Feynman's Hughes Lectures: 950 pages of notes”

“it was so clear and so fascinating compared to my experience”

RecommendsComment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Feynman's Hughes Lectures: 950 pages of notes”

“The Feynman Lectures on Physics are a fantastic supplement and a great reference for people who already have a solid background.”

RecommendsComment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Feynman's Hughes Lectures: 950 pages of notes”

“Feynman was a uniquely gifted teacher that made things intuitive and simple.”

RecommendsComment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Feynman's Hughes Lectures: 950 pages of notes”

“I never understood the appeal of Feynman and these Lectures”

CriticizesComment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Feynman's Hughes Lectures: 950 pages of notes”

“10/10 should be required reading for all humans”

RecommendsComment from 11 Nov 2025 in “Why effort scales superlinearly with the perceived quality of creative work”

Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.