In his final years, Richard Feynman's curiosity took him to some surprising places. We hear from his companions on the trips he took — and one he wasn’t able to. (Part three of a three-part series.)
The auguries of innocence by William Blake.
To see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wildflower.
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour.
There's just times that I wish Feynman was here.
Many, many times.
I'm sorry, but this happens when I think of him.
And I can't predict when it's gonna happen.
So give me a moment.
Cause I'm not good at, you know, controlling the upwelling.
It does happen, and I miss the man.
Ralph Layton is a retired school teacher who lives just north of Berkeley, California, with his wife, Phoebe.
From their front porch, you can see the San Francisco skyline, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Pacific Ocean.
When Leighton was a teenager, he started hanging out with a man who had become a lifetime friend and inspiration, Richard Feynman.
Feynman and Ralph Layton's father both taught physics at Caltech, the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California.
But Ralph Layton and Richard Feynman didn't bond over physics.
They bonded over their love of playing the bongos.
We would drum often at his place, but sometimes at my place, and then after that, you know, then he'd just talk.
And then sometimes we'd drum again, and then he'd talk.
This talking is what Layton helped turn into two books that made Feynman famous toward the end of his life.
The first one was called, surely you're joking, Mister Feynman.