Richard P. Feynman was Richard Chace Tolman Professor of Theoretical Physics at the California Institute of Technology. He was awarded the 1965 Nobel Prize for his work on the development of quantum field theory. He was also one of the most famous and beloved figures of the twentieth century, both in physics and as a public intellectual.

Michael A. Gottlieb is a visitor in physics at the California Institute of Technology, and editor of The Feynman Lectures on Physics and Exercises for the Feynman Lectures on Physics. He also administers the Feynman Lectures website, www.feynmanlectures.info.

Ralph Leighton is an author, lateral thinker, and longtime friend of the late Richard Feynman.