Feynmans lost lecture the motion of planets around the sun is a book based on a lecture by richard feynmanrestoration of the lecture notes and conversion into book form was undertaken by caltech physicist david l goodstein and archivist judith r goodstein feynman had given the lecture on the motion of bodies at caltech on march 13 1964 but the notes and pictures were lost for a number . Richard feynman the rock star of theoretical physics has left an image that belies the nerdy side revealed in feynmans lost lecture the motion of planets around the sunnot many bongo playing surfer beatniks would have spent hours of their spare time proving newtons law of elliptical planetary motion using only plane geometry but feynmans lost lecture shows that the great man did just that. Feynmans lost lecture in 1964 richard feynman delivered a lecture to the caltech freshman class the motion of planets around the sun why the planets move elliptically as isaac newton had discovered 300 years earlier the subject of this lecture was the watershed discovery that separated the ancient world from the modern. Buy feynmans lost lecture the motion of planets around the sun by richard p feynman 1996 06 17 by richard p feynmandavid goodsteinjudith r goodstein isbn from amazons book store everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. On march 13 1964 feynman delivered a lecture to the caltech freshman class the motion of planets around the sunwhy the planets move elliptically instead of in perfect circles for reasons unknown most probably for his own amusement he chose to make the argument using mathematics no more advanced than high school plane geometry isaac newton had pulled off much the same trick nearly 300