SOTHEBY'S OFFERS FEYNMAN NOBEL PRIZE MEDAL

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V21 2018 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 21, Number 37, September 16, 2018, Article 31

Sotheby's November History of Science & Technology auction will feature books, manuscripts and the Nobel Prize medal of physicist Richard Feynman. Here's a portion of the announcement from their September 13 email blast. -Editor

Few theoretical physicists have managed to transcend the scientific community and enter the popular consciousness as Richard Feynman. With his book Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!, his brilliant, inspiring, lighthearted and fun-loving personality reached millions.

On 30 November, Sotheby’s will offer Feynman’s Nobel Prize along with a collection of the celebrated scientist’s manuscripts and his personal research library, which will headline the second-annual History of Science & Technology auction.

Feynman received the Nobel Prize in 1965 for his work, with Julian Schwinger and Shin’ichiro Tomonaga, in remaking the theory of quantum electrodynamics. His invention of ‘Feynman diagrams’ – pictorial representations of particle interactions – revolutionized the field. He is also considered by many to be the father of nanotechnology; in a 1959 talk entitled, “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom,” he proposed a challenge to the scientific community to start thinking on a very small scale, personally offering two prizes. A series of lectures on introductory physics that Feynman gave at Caltech between 1961–63 was edited and published as “The Feynman Lectures of Physics,” which is thought to be the most popular physics book ever written.

To many numismatists, a Nobel Prize medal is a Nobel Prize medal. But provenance can play a big role, and the stature and fame of the recipient can greatly influence the price received at auction. It will be interesting to see where the auction gavel falls on this one. -Editor