The Feynman Lectures on Physics
The Feynman Lectures on Physics by Feynman, Leighton and Sandsby Feynman, Leighton and Sands
Hacker ApprovedThe 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%
Recommended in 10 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- 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)” - Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Feynman's Hughes Lectures: 950 pages of notes”
- 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)” - Comment from 12 Feb 2026 in “The Feynman Lectures on Physics (online edition)”
- Comment from 11 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)” - 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.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Feynman Lectures on Physicsby Feynman, Leighton and SandsThis page | 34 | 3 | 92% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Course of Theoretical Physicsby Landau and Lifshitz | 8 | 1 | 89% | 6 | — | — |
| Computational Physics (2nd Edition)by Giordano and Nakanishi | 7 | 1 | 88% | 1 | — | — |
| General Relativityby Robert Wald | 6 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Engineering Thermodynamics | 6 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
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”
“Here is the relevant chapter from the Feynman lectures”
“Feynman describes molecular interactions beautifully”
“Other times you get the Feynman Lectures.”
“It's a pleasure to read it but you must already read 1 to understand it.”
“Feynman is trusted because his lectures are texts we can check, argue with, and cite.”
“Start somewhere. Go places. It's fun.”
“would give one the basics one would ever need”
“self studying through an entire course dramatically expanded my understanding”
“learning to think like Feynman is useful when reasoning about large obscure systems”
“There's a slightly simpler introduction to detailed perturbative planetary orbit calculations in Feynman's Lectures on Physics.”
“interesting to read alongside this article”
“write about all of physics in 1800 pages, using only 2 levels of hierarchical headings: chapters and A-level heads in the text”
“but the content is his, as you can easily verify by going to The Feynman Lectures Website”
“Feynman is the primary author of that book, for good reason.”
“The book follows those lectures closely.”
“Leighton definitely deserves a whole lot of respect for producing the work”
“the book didn't read like a transcript on its own”
“Leighton deserves the credit for this.”
“It's quite the accomplishment and one which I felt was a credit to everyone involved.”
“one of the most (if not THE most) popular physics books ever written, and many great physicists sing its praises”
“I'd recommend everyone studying physics read his lectures and watch some interviews”
“We might say this is the most important chapter in the whole series.”
“Feynman was such an amazing teacher of complex topics”
“His method of delivery is so clear I find it immensely relaxing.”
“He wrote and delivered the lectures.”
“Good teachers like Feynman do a great job of it which is why their books are so highly valued.”
“The Feynman lectures are obviously brilliant”
“many swore by his books, particularly for quantum, it was a bit of a secret”
“the many books published under his name that he did not in fact write”
“my only regret is that there are no problems”
“it makes for such wonderful reading! I think its not just an introduction to physics but to the scientific method itself.”
“the recordings here have the chat before and after the lecture which is fun”
“I never found his lectures easy to learn from”
“It's not a book to marathon, unless you have a (almost) complete degree in Physics”
“it was so clear and so fascinating compared to my experience”
“The Feynman Lectures on Physics are a fantastic supplement and a great reference for people who already have a solid background.”
“Feynman was a uniquely gifted teacher that made things intuitive and simple.”
“I never understood the appeal of Feynman and these Lectures”
“10/10 should be required reading for all humans”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.