• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Farnam Street Logo

Farnam Street

Mastering the best of what other people have already figured out

  • Articles
  • Newsletter
  • Podcast
  • Books
  • Courses
  • Log In
  • Become a Member

Physics

Math Makes Life Beautiful.

Math has long been the language of science, engineering, and finance, but can math help you feel calm on a turbulent flight? Get a date? Make better decisions? Here are some heroic ways math shows up …

Continue readingMath Makes Life Beautiful.

Inertia: The Force That Holds the Universe Together

Inertia is the force that holds the universe together. Literally. Without it, things would fall apart. It’s also what keeps us locked in destructive habits, and resistant to change. * “If it were …

Continue readingInertia: The Force That Holds the Universe Together

Understanding Speed and Velocity: Saying “NO” to the Non-Essential

It’s tempting to think that in order to be a valuable team player, you should say “yes” to every request and task that is asked of you. People who say yes to everything have a lot of …

Continue readingUnderstanding Speed and Velocity: Saying “NO” to the Non-Essential

Friction: The Hidden Force Holding You Back

How is it that two people delivering the same value to organizational outcomes, in the same role at the same pay, can have a massively different value to the organization itself? *** Here’s a …

Continue readingFriction: The Hidden Force Holding You Back

Frozen Accidents: Why the Future Is So Unpredictable

“Each of us human beings, for example, is the product of an enormously long sequence of accidents, any of which could have turned out differently.” — Murray Gell-Mann *** What parts of …

Continue readingFrozen Accidents: Why the Future Is So Unpredictable

The Need for Biological Thinking to Solve Complex Problems

“Biological thinking and physics thinking are distinct, and often complementary, approaches to the world, and ones that are appropriate for different kinds of systems.” *** How should we …

Continue readingThe Need for Biological Thinking to Solve Complex Problems

The Boundaries Between Science and Religion: Alan Lightman on Different Kinds of Knowledge

“The physical universe is subject to rational analysis and the methods of science. The spiritual universe is not. All of us have had experiences that are not subject to rational analysis. …

Continue readingThe Boundaries Between Science and Religion: Alan Lightman on Different Kinds of Knowledge

 The Accidental Universe

* “Be not deceived,” Epictetus writes in The Discourses, “every animal is attached to nothing so much as to its own interest.” Few things are more in our nature than our …

Continue reading The Accidental Universe

Stephen Hawking Explains The Origin of the Universe

The Origin of the Universe, a lecture, by Stephen Hawking According to the Boshongo people of central Africa, in the beginning, there was only darkness, water, and the great god Bumba. One day Bumba, …

Continue readingStephen Hawking Explains The Origin of the Universe

Elon Musk: A Framework for Thinking

In this brief video, Elon Musk, who previously brought us how to build knowledge and 12 book recommendations, talks about a framework for thinking. I do think there is a good framework for thinking. …

Continue readingElon Musk: A Framework for Thinking

Richard Feynman: The Difference Between Knowing the Name of Something and Knowing Something

Richard Feynman (1918-1988) was no ordinary genius. He believed that “the world is much more interesting than any one discipline.” His explanations — on why questions, why trains stay on the tracks as …

Continue readingRichard Feynman: The Difference Between Knowing the Name of Something and Knowing Something

Charlie Munger: Adding Mental Tools to Your Toolbox

In The Art of War, Sun Tzu said: “The general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought.” Those ‘calculations’ are the tools we have available to …

Continue readingCharlie Munger: Adding Mental Tools to Your Toolbox

The Simple Problem Einstein Couldn’t Solve … At First

Albert Einstein and Max Wertheimer were close friends. Both found themselves in exile in the United States after fleeing the Nazis in the early 1930s, Einstein at Princeton and Wertheimer in New York. …

Continue readingThe Simple Problem Einstein Couldn’t Solve … At First

Richard Feynman: The Universe in a Glass of Wine

A poet once said, “The whole universe is in a glass of wine.” We will probably never know in what sense he meant that, for poets do not write to be understood. But it is true that if we look at a …

Continue readingRichard Feynman: The Universe in a Glass of Wine

Richard Feynman Explains How Rubber Bands Work

Richard Feynman has a gift for taking something that seems pretty simple and turning it into something beautifully complex. Watch as he explains how something as simple as rubber bands work.

Continue readingRichard Feynman Explains How Rubber Bands Work

The Feynman Lectures on Physics

“The whole thing was basically an experiment,” Richard Feynman said late in his career, looking back on the origins of his lectures. The experiment turned out to be hugely successful, …

Continue readingThe Feynman Lectures on Physics
See older articles →

Discover What You’re Missing

Get the weekly email full of actionable ideas and insights you can use at work and home.


As seen on:

Forbes logo
New York Times logo
Wall Street Journal logo
The Economist logo
Financial Times logo
Farnam Street Logo

© 2023 Farnam Street Media Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Proudly powered by WordPress. Hosted by Pressable. See our Privacy Policy.

  • Speaking
  • Sponsorship
  • About
  • Support
  • Education

We’re Syrus Partners.
We buy amazing businesses.


Farnam Street participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising commissions by linking to Amazon.