Richard Phillips Feynman was an American theoretical physicist, renowned for his pioneering work in several areas of physics. He was born on May 11, 1918, and passed away on February 15, 1988. Feynman is best known for his contributions to the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium. In particle physics, he proposed the parton model.

For his significant contributions to the development of quantum electrodynamics, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965, shared with Julian Schwinger and Shin'ichirō Tomonaga. Feynman developed a widely used pictorial representation scheme for the mathematical expressions that describe the behavior of subatomic particles, which became known as Feynman diagrams.

During his lifetime, Feynman became one of the most celebrated scientists globally. In a 1999 poll conducted by the British journal Physics World, he was voted the seventh-greatest physicist of all time.

He played a crucial role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II and gained further public recognition in the 1980s as a member of the Rogers Commission, which investigated the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Additionally, Feynman was credited with pioneering the field of quantum computing and introducing the concept of nanotechnology while holding the Richard C. Tolman professorship in theoretical physics at the California Institute of Technology.

Beyond his theoretical work, Feynman was an enthusiastic popularizer of physics, delivering lectures and authoring books. Notably, his 1959 lecture on top-down nanotechnology, "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom," and the three-volume series, The Feynman Lectures on Physics, have been influential. His autobiographical books, Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! and What Do You Care What Other People Think?, along with biographical works like Tuva or Bust! and Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman by James Gleick, have further cemented his legacy.