Richard Feynman had, by any reasonable standard, an extraordinary life: MIT graduate, CalTech professor, member of the Manhattan Project, winner of the Nobel Prize in physics, originator of the idea of a quantum computer, and (two years before his death) star member of the commission that investigated the "Challenger" disaster. This book offers some glimpses into that life . . . and into Feynman's extraordinary mind. It quickly becomes apparent that the word "curious" in the subtitle is meant to be taken in both senses: "Unusual" and "inquisitive." Feynman, who died in 1988, was both.

The book consists of roughly two equal parts. The first is recollections by and (in a few cases) of Feynman. Some, like his reminiscences about his relationships with his father and his first wife (who, they both knew, was terminally ill when he married her), are long and detailed. Others, like a story about visiting South America in the 1950s or a pair of letters by fellow physicist Freeman Dyson that mention Feynman, are brief. The content of the recollections varies from colorful-but-trivial (an audience with the king of Belgium) to the profound and deeply moving (Feynman's love for his first wife is palpable, even after four decades and an evidently happy second marriage). The second section is Feynman's long and detailed recounting of how he was (in effect) drafted onto the Rogers Commission and what he did once he was there. It doesn't pretend to be a blow-by-blow account of the "Challenger" accident or the commission's findings. It is, instead, a little like a modern-day version of Lewis Carroll, with Feynman as Alice and the world of NASA bureaucracy and Washington politics as Wonderland.

What you think of this book is likely to depend on what you want out of it. If you're hoping for more funny stories along the lines of "Sure You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" you'll likely be disappointed; there are some, but the overall tone is relatively serious. If you're looking for insights into Feynman's science, forget it . . . it's not there. What the book does offer is, even in places where you wouldn't expect it, glimpses of Feynman's mind working. The stories he tells about himself suggest that he never *stopped* asking questions about the world around him and thinking about the answers, and (though I may be wrong) I get the feeling that he's not embellishing them (much) to make himself look more impressive. His story about the "Challenger" investigation underscores that tendency . . . which paid off in his famous O-ring-and-ice-water demonstration.

It's difficult to know what to call this book. It's not an autobiography, not a book about the "Challenger" investigation, and not a reflection on the nature of science . . . though all those elements are part of it. Here's the best I can do: If "Surely You're Joking . . . " was like listening to Feynman tell stories in the hotel bar at a conference, "What Do You Care . . . " is like listening to him reminisce in his living room after the dinner guests have gone home. If you're interested in 20th century science, there are *far* worse ways to spend a couple of hours than that!