Richard Feynman — "The thing about science is that it's all about discovery. It's all about trying …"
The thing about science is that it's all about discovery. It's all about trying to find out what's going on.
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More from Richard Feynman
"Nature uses only the longest threads to weave her patterns, so each small piece of her fabric reveals the organization of the entire tapestry."
"I would rather have a world with five billion people that didn't know how to read than a world with five billion people that all knew how to read and all thought the same thing."
"The world is full of people who are trying to figure out what's going on, and they're all wrong."
"The only way to do great work is to love what you do."
"I have no idea where I'm going. I have no idea where I'm going to be. So it's probably best that I don't know."
About Richard Feynman (1918-1988)
American theoretical physicist who shared the 1965 Nobel for QED, developed Feynman diagrams, and wrote the Feynman Lectures on Physics. Closely associated with Julian Schwinger (co-Nobelist for QED) and Murray Gell-Mann (Caltech rival and Eightfold-Way physicist). For an intellectual contrast, see Deepak Chopra, physician and quantum-mysticism author — Feynman's Caltech 'cargo cult science' commencement address is the precise template for what he saw as misuse of physics terminology — Chopra-style appropriation of quantum vocabulary for metaphysical claims is the canonical example of what Feynman called 'fooling yourself'.
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Understanding this quote
What it means
Science is fundamentally an act of exploration rather than confirmation. It means approaching the universe with genuine curiosity, following evidence wherever it leads, and accepting that you don't yet know the answer. The goal isn't to prove what you already believe but to uncover how things actually work, even when the truth is strange or uncomfortable.
Relevance to Richard Feynman
Feynman embodied this relentlessly. His Nobel Prize-winning work in quantum electrodynamics emerged from playing with spinning plates and following curiosity without a fixed destination. He taught physics through raw wonder, not rote formulas, famously saying he'd rather have questions than answers. His Challenger investigation, his bongo drumming, his safe-cracking—all reflected a man compelled to find out how things work.
The era
Feynman worked through the Cold War and post-WWII scientific boom, when science was simultaneously celebrated and weaponized. The Manhattan Project showed science could destroy cities; Sputnik made discovery a geopolitical race. Against this backdrop of politicized science, Feynman insisted discovery must remain pure—driven by curiosity, not ideology or national interest—a stance that felt radical when governments funded science to win wars.
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