Errata for The Feynman Lectures on PhysicsThese lists of errors can be used to correct the New Millennium Edition and earlier editions; they are provided here primarily for the convenience of individuals who prefer to make corrections to their older edition of The Feynman Lectures on Physics, rather than purchase a new corrected edition.
Old Errata Lists of errata and errata-related correspondence from 1964 thru 1976 collected by Richard Feynman. The errata dated before 1965 were (mostly) corrected in the original manuscript. The errata dated in the 1970's were incorporated into the FLP Commemorative Issue Errata and corrected in the First Printing of the Definitive Edition. Posted by permission of the Feynman estate, these errata and correspondence are mostly of historical interest.
Errata Corrected in the Definitive Edition
(How to tell which printing of the FLP Definitive Edition you have)
Commemorative Issue Lists of errata for the Commemorative Issue of The Feynman Lectures on Physics (1989) and earlier editions. All of the (approximately 200) errors in these lists were corrected in the new Definitive Edition (2005)†. FLP Commemorative Issue Vol. I Errata (pdf, 126K) FLP Commemorative Issue Vol. II Errata (pdf, 168K) FLP Commemorative Issue Vol. III Errata (pdf, 309K)
Definitive Edition 3rd printing Lists of errata for the 3rd printing of the Definitive Edition of The Feynman Lectures on Physics (2005) and earlier printings and editions. All of the (approximately 80) errors in these lists were corrected in the 4th printing of the Definitive Edition (2006). FLP Definitive Edition 3rd printing Vol. I Errata (pdf, 93K) FLP Definitive Edition 3rd printing Vol. II Errata (pdf, 122K) FLP Definitive Edition 3rd printing Vol. III Errata (pdf, 216K)
Errata Corrected in the New Millennium Edition
Definitive Edition final printing Lists of errata for the final printing of the Definitive Edition of The Feynman Lectures on Physics (2010) and earlier editions. All of the (approximately 885) errors in these lists were corrected in the 1st printing of the New Millennium Edition (2011). FLP Definitive Edition final printing Vol. I Errata (pdf, 656K) FLP Definitive Edition final printing Vol. II Errata (pdf, 696K) FLP Definitive Edition final printing Vol. III Errata (pdf, 384K)
New Millennium Edition 1st printing Lists of errata for the 1st printing of the New Millennium Edition of The Feynman Lectures on Physics (2011) and earlier editions. All of the errors in these lists were corrected in the 2nd printing of the New Millennium Edition (2011). FLP New Millennium Edition 1st printing Vol. I Errata (pdf, 155k) FLP New Millennium Edition 1st printing Vol. II Errata (pdf, 98k) FLP New Millennium Edition 1st printing Vol. III Errata (pdf, 96k)
New Millennium Edition 2nd printing Lists of errata for the 2nd printing of the New Millennium Edition of The Feynman Lectures on Physics (2011) and earlier editions. All of the errors in these lists were corrected in the 3rd printing of the New Millennium Edition (2012). FLP New Millennium Edition 2nd printing Vol. I Errata (pdf, 86k) FLP New Millennium Edition 2nd printing Vol. II Errata (pdf, 147k) FLP New Millennium Edition 2nd printing Vol. III Errata (pdf, 109k)
New Millennium Edition 3rd printing Lists of errata for the 3rd printing of the New Millennium Edition of The Feynman Lectures on Physics (2012) and earlier editions. All of the errors in these lists were corrected in the 4th printing of the New Millennium Edition (2013). FLP New Millennium Edition 3rd printing Vol. I Errata (pdf, 117k) FLP New Millennium Edition 3rd printing Vol. II Errata (pdf, 102k) FLP New Millennium Edition 3rd printing Vol. III Errata (pdf, 80k)
New Millennium Edition 4th printing Lists of errata for the 4th printing of the New Millennium Edition of The Feynman Lectures on Physics (2013) and earlier editions. All of the errors in these lists were corrected in the 5th printing of the New Millennium Edition (2014). FLP New Millennium Edition 4th printing Vol. I Errata (pdf, 117k) FLP New Millennium Edition 4th printing Vol. II Errata (pdf, 76k) FLP New Millennium Edition 4th printing Vol. III Errata (pdf, 79k)
New Millennium Edition 5th printing Lists of errata for the 5th printing of the New Millennium Edition of The Feynman Lectures on Physics (2014) and earlier editions. All of the errors in these lists were corrected in the 6th printing of the New Millennium Edition (2015). FLP New Millennium Edition 5th printing Vol. I Errata (pdf, 268k) FLP New Millennium Edition 5th printing Vol. II Errata (pdf, 361k) FLP New Millennium Edition 5th printing Vol. III Errata (pdf, 229k)
New Millennium Edition 6th printing Lists of errata for the 6th printing of the New Millennium Edition of The Feynman Lectures on Physics (2015) and earlier editions. All of the errors in these lists were corrected in the 7th printing of the New Millennium Edition (2016). FLP New Millennium Edition 6th printing Vol. I Errata (pdf, 508k) FLP New Millennium Edition 6th printing Vol. II Errata (pdf, 82k) FLP New Millennium Edition 6th printing Vol. III Errata (pdf, 258k)
New Millennium Edition 7th printing Lists of errata for the 7th printing of the New Millennium Edition of The Feynman Lectures on Physics (2016) and earlier editions. All of the errors in these lists were corrected in the 8th printing of the New Millennium Edition (2017). FLP New Millennium Edition 7th printing Vol. I Errata (pdf, 508k) FLP New Millennium Edition 7th printing Vol. II Errata (pdf, 82k) FLP New Millennium Edition 7th printing Vol. III Errata (pdf, 258k)
New Millennium Edition 2/28/18 Lists of errata for the New Millennium Edition of The Feynman Lectures on Physics submitted to the publisher for correction on 2/28/2018. FLP New Millennium Edition 2/28/2018 Vol. I Errata (pdf, 104k) FLP New Millennium Edition 2/28/2018 Vol. II Errata (pdf, 41k)
New Millennium Edition 4/25/18 Lists of errata for the New Millennium Edition of The Feynman Lectures on Physics submitted to the publisher for correction on 4/25/2018. FLP New Millennium Edition 4/25/2018 Vol. II Errata (pdf, 40k)
New Millennium Edition 6/3/18 Lists of errata for the New Millennium Edition of The Feynman Lectures on Physics submitted to the publisher for correction on 6/3/2018. FLP New Millennium Edition 6/3/2018 Vol. I Errata (pdf, 190k) FLP New Millennium Edition 6/3/2018 Vol. III Errata (pdf, 137k)
New Millennium Edition 3/15/19 Lists of errata for the New Millennium Edition of The Feynman Lectures on Physics submitted to the publisher for correction on 3/15/2019. FLP New Millennium Edition 3/15/2019 Vol. III Errata (pdf, 654k)
New Millennium Edition 9/13/19 Lists of errata for the New Millennium Edition of The Feynman Lectures on Physics submitted to the publisher for correction on 9/13/2019. FLP New Millennium Edition 9/13/2019 Vol. I Errata (pdf, 194k) FLP New Millennium Edition 9/13/2019 Vol. II Errata (pdf, 470k) FLP New Millennium Edition 9/13/2019 Vol. III Errata (pdf, 51k)
New Millennium Edition 6/19/20 Lists of errata for the New Millennium Edition of The Feynman Lectures on Physics submitted to the publisher for correction on 6/19/2020. FLP New Millennium Edition 6/19/2020 Vol. I Errata (pdf, 305k) FLP New Millennium Edition 6/19/2020 Vol. II Errata (pdf, 709k) FLP New Millennium Edition 6/19/2020 Vol. III Errata (pdf, 139k)
New Millennium Edition 3/14/21 Lists of errata for the New Millennium Edition of The Feynman Lectures on Physics submitted to the publisher for correction on 3/14/2021. FLP New Millennium Edition 3/14/2021 Vol. I Errata (pdf, 81k) FLP New Millennium Edition 3/14/2021 Vol. II Errata (pdf, 125k) FLP New Millennium Edition 3/14/2021 Vol. III Errata (pdf, 191k)
New Millennium Edition 5/16/22 Lists of errata for the New Millennium Edition of The Feynman Lectures on Physics submitted to the publisher for correction on 5/16/22. FLP New Millennium Edition 5/16/22 Vol. I Errata (pdf, 148k) FLP New Millennium Edition 5/16/22 Vol. II Errata (pdf, 212k) FLP New Millennium Edition 5/16/22 Vol. III Errata (pdf, 65k)
New Millennium Edition 1/28/24 Lists of errata for the New Millennium Edition of The Feynman Lectures on Physics submitted to the publisher for correction on 1/28/24. FLP New Millennium Edition 1/28/24 Vol. I Errata (pdf, 88k) FLP New Millennium Edition 1/28/24 Vol. II Errata (pdf, 184k) FLP New Millennium Edition 1/28/24 Vol. III Errata (pdf, 267k)
Typos introduced in the LaTeX conversion In the course of encoding FLP into LaTeX - a process that required several man-years - some typographical errors were inadvertently introduced in the new manuscript. We expected this to happen, and tried our best to find and correct all such errors before the books went to print, but unfortunately several escaped our attention and made it into the first printing of the New Millennium edition. The following spreadsheet lists all typos that have been found in the New Millennium Edition (2011) to date. The typos listed in black include all those corrected in the 4th hardback printing; those listed in red are new and will be corrected in future printings. FLP_New_Millennium_Edition_Typos (xlsx)
Newly Reported Errata
Lists of errata for the New Millennium Edition of The Feynman Lectures on Physics (2011) and earlier editions. Corrections in these lists that are approved by Caltech will be used to correct future printings of the The Lectures. FLP New Millennium Edition Newly Reported Vol. I Errata (pdf) FLP New Millennium Edition Newly Reported Vol. II Errata (pdf) FLP New Millennium Edition Newly Reported Vol. III Errata (pdf)
Contributors of Errata for The Feynman Lectures on Physics ... Since the publication of the Definitive Edition in September 2005, many people have written to us about errors they noticed in The Feynman Lectures on Physics. All reported errors validated by Caltech are submitted to the publisher for correction. ... Commemorative Edition Michael A. Gottlieb Michael Hartl Kip Thorne
... Definitive Edition Douglas Baldwin Lucas G. Bittar Nate Bode Dries Bossers Paul Dear Arjen Dijksman Rémy Duperray J.B.C. Engelen Andreas Forsblom Lincoln Frost John Fuqua Michael D. Godfrey Andrew Goetz Michael A. Gottlieb Jose Harris Steven T. Hatton Henning Heinze Alain Hénault Daniel Holland Phil Hystad Sirdna Jacods Inbo Kim Sungho Kim Cosimo Laddomada Ralph Leighton Jonathan Leloux Everett Lipman Ilkka Mäkinen Josh Mattes Mark McLaughlin Frank Mechelinck Steve Murphy Lev B. Okun Rudolf Pfeiffer Rajesh Prasad Patrick Purcell Donald Rintala Wyn Ross Fernando Scarlassara Mark Schiller Manfred Söfftge Keshav Srinivasan Mark Smith Lowell Thelin Kip Thorne Doug Tygar Markus Ungersböck Victor van der Hoeven Mark van Schagen Juergen Winkler Sean Woodward Geoffrey Wright
... New Millennium Edition
Alejandro Altamirano David G Anderson John Apruzese Douglas Baldwin Jean-Sébastien Boisvert Christian Butcher Sed Chedmeringa Jin Chengjin Clyde Clements Fons Daalderop Vanya Davydychev John Denker Larry Denenberg Paul Dennis Alex Dickson Olaf Dietrich Haifeng Dong Robert Douglas Daniel Evans Torben Falkenberg Sascha Frölich Francis Gadala-Maria Kevin Gallagher Bob Galesloot Petra Gao Ralf Goertz Michael A. Gottlieb Steven T. Hatton Rolf Hauck Glenn Hightower Rafael Howell Xuesong Hu Will Ivy Daniel B. January Gift Jesubalan Kalyan Kappagantula Jan Krahmer Oguz Kupusoglu Ralph Leighton Philippe Lemoine Everett Lipman Gábor Lipovszki Michael Litzky Alan Lu Milad Malek Daniel Månsson Carver Mead Alexander Mukhin Kai Müller Hari Nandakumar Takumi Ogawa Sang Hyun Oh Takemichi Okui Alex Opremcak Tim Pals Dimitris Papavasiliou Peter Päppinghaus Satheesh Paul Sahak Petrosyan Rudolf Pfeiffer Nicolas Posunko Gavin Putland Stefano Quattrini Roei Remez Donald Rintala Dominik Rist John Runnels Nevada Sánchez Matthew Sands Alexey Sarychev Ralph Scheicher Ritik Simaiya Andras Simonovits Manfred Smolik Takil Yannet Son Blake Stacey Stamatis Strikos Danu Thung Onur Umucalilar Pablo J. Vázquez Jef Verselder Herbert Vinson Kai D. Wingo Richard Worsham Ulysses Yang Sergey Yerokhin Marek Zalinski Yue Zhengyuan Oleg Zhvakin Aaron Zimmerman
Find an error? We invite you to contact us with contributions of errata, including:
Contributed errata will be validated and used to update our lists periodically.
†In his preface to The Definitive Edition of The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Professor Kip Thorne writes:
The corrected errata are mainly of three types: (i) typographical errors
in the prose; (ii) roughly 150 typographical and mathematical errors in
equations, tables, and figures—sign errors, incorrect numbers (e.g., a 5 that
should be a 4), and missing subscripts, summation signs, parentheses and terms
in equations; (iii) roughly 50 incorrect cross references to chapters, tables,
and figures. These kinds of errors,
though not terribly serious to a mature physicist, can be frustrating and
confusing to students, the audience Feynman was trying to reach.
It is remarkable that the errata included only two inadvertent errors in
physics: Volume I, page 45-4 now says “When a rubber band is stretched its
temperature rises,” not “falls”
as claimed in previous editions; and Volume II, page 5-9 now says “…no
static distribution of charges inside a closed grounded
conductor can produce any
[electric] fields outside” (the
word grounded was omitted in previous editions).
This second error was pointed out to Feynman by a number of readers,
including Beulah Elizabeth Cox, a student at The College of William and Mary,
who had relied on Feynman’s erroneous passage in an exam. To Ms. Cox, Feynman wrote in 1975,[1]
“Your instructor was right not to give you any points, for your answer
was wrong, as he demonstrated using Gauss’s law.
You should, in science, believe logic and arguments, carefully drawn, and
not authorities. You also read the
book correctly and understood it. I
made a mistake, so the book is wrong. I
probably was thinking of a grounded conducting sphere, or else of the fact that
moving the charges around in different places inside does not affect things on
the outside. I am not sure how I
did it, but I goofed. And you
goofed, too, for believing me.” Feynman was uncomfortably aware of this error, and of others. In correspondence with the publisher in 1975, he refers to “errors of physics in Volumes II and III that are more than just typographical.” I do not know the other errors. Finding them is a challenge for future readers! To this end, Michael Gottlieb is creating a web site, www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/info, on which all errata corrected in this Edition will be listed, along with any new errata found by future readers."
Kip S. Thorne The Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics California Institute of Technology [1] Pages 288-289 of Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track, The Letters of Richard P. Feynman, ed. Michelle Feynman (Basic Books, New York, 2005). |
Copyright © 2000-2013 Michael A. Gottlieb. All rights reserved. |