Feynman Diagrams Another of Feynman's famous contributions to physics were his Feynman diagrams, teaching tools designed to illustrate the principles of physics. In the animation below, the diagram depicts an electron/photon relationship.    1.)http://www.feynman.com/ 2.)http://www.fotuva.org/online/images/diagrams/fdanim.gif "This diagram shows three basic actions. The first, a photon goes from place to place, is illustrated by the line from 5 to 6. The second, an electron goes from point A to point B in space-time, is illustrated by the lines from 1 to 5, 5 to 3, 2 to 6, and 6 to 4. The third, an electron emits or absorbs a photon, is illustrated by the junctions at point 5 and 6. So in simple terms, what does this diagram depict? It shows an electron, which starts out at 1 and moves through time-space to point 5, where it emits a photon, altering its path and moving along to point 3 where it goes off the graph. Another electron starts out at point 2 where it travels through space-time to point 6 and absorbs the photon emitted by the first electron, Its path changes and it travels to point 4 where it leaves the graph   (Feynman Online)."  These diagrams were a part of Feynman's teaching philosophy. He found it ridiculous to make basic principles arcane and impenetrable to students. In fact, he was called "The Great Explainer" for his lucid, straightforward breakdown of physics topics. This was not to say that everything he lectured on was digestible to the average student. In fact, regarding QED, Feynman stated, "If I could explain it to the average person, I wouldn't have been worth the Nobel Prize (Wikiquote)." However, whenever he could, Feynman opened wide the doors of physics to his students. And when the Caltech faculty decided that the freshman/sophmore portion of the physics curriculum needed an overhaul, Feynman compiled the Feynman Lectures on Physics. The project was a three-year labor of love from Feynman and when he was finished, the world's most popular set of physics texts were born.  Feynman Lectures: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feynman One of the most remembered quirks of Feynman was that he painted Feynman diagrams on his van. Later, after he passed away, a search was pu on for the van. It was found and is now a popular pilgrimage for Feynman admirers to go and snap a photo at. Feynman's van: http://www.feynman.com/ Feynman's license plate: http://www.feynman.com/