Bill Gates' Project Tuva and Richard Feynman

There is no one I admire more or have studied more thoroughly than the late Richard Feynman. His Lectures on Physics and The Pleasure of Finding Things Out sit prominently on my office bookshelf.

It has only been recently that I have discovered Bill Gates' passion for the man and his work. Feynman, known for a quirky sense of humor and eccentric and wide ranging interests had a way of making science both practical and understandable (usually!). His lectures are engaging, fascinating and downright fun!

"You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you're finished you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird. So let's look at the bird and see what it's doing - that's what counts. I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something."

Thanks to Microsoft Research and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, Feynman's acclaimed "Messenger" lectures given at Cornell University in 1964 are available using Microsoft's Silverlight technology and feature complete transcripts, commentary and interactive annotation.

Feynman was that professor you remember from school that changed your life. Do yourself a solid; install Silverlight (if you haven't - and yes it is available for Macs) and go take a look.