Feynman's Nobel Ambition

Richard Feynman, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, expressed his disillusionment with physics but recalled his initial joy in playing with the subject for personal amusement rather than for its importance in nuclear physics development. He reminisced about a moment in a cafeteria where he observed a plate wobbling in the air with a Cornell medallion rotating faster than the wobble. Intrigued, he delved into the motion of the rotating plate, discovering a 2-to-1 relationship between the medallion's rotation and the wobble rate. Despite being questioned about the significance of his investigation, Feynman persisted, driven solely by his enjoyment of physics. This playful exploration eventually led him back to fundamental problems he loved, culminating in his Nobel Prize-winning work in quantum electrodynamics, stemming from his seemingly trivial observation of a wobbling plate.