Wednesday, july 30, 2025

What a physics genius wrote... sixteen months after losing the love of his life... Richard Feynman was many things: a Nobel Prize–winning physicist, an enthusiastic teacher, a devoted father, and—believe it or not—a talented bongo drummer.

But beyond the lab coat and lecture halls, he was also a man of profound love and deep emotional insight. Feynman’s heart shone as brightly as his mind. He married his childhood sweetheart, Arline Greenbaum, even as she battled terminal tuberculosis.

Arline’s health declined so rapidly that she spent their entire marriage in hospitals and sanatoriums, yet their bond never weakened. Throughout this time, Richard wrote to Arline letters full of wit, warmth, and undying devotion almost every day. Many of these can be found in his remarkable collection Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track. But the most touching of them all is one he wrote to her sixteen months after she passed away, and which I read for you today.

Their story—a brilliant mind, an unbreakable love—continues to move readers and admirers to this day. In fact, the auction house Sotheby’s recently published a beautiful article on their extraordinary relationship.

You can find it here: ? https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/no-other-love-heart-wrenching-letters-from-richard-feynman-to-his-late-wife-arline

Credits: Programme recorded and produced by Gabriel Porras for radiantwhispers.com and gabrielvoice.com

Music: Ambient Melancholic Background by universefield at pixabay.com Used under license.

Cover design: Cover created by Ricardo Gil, scravricardo@gmail.com Image by Freepik.es. Used with license.