
Richard Feynman's Extraordinary Letter to His Departed Wife - ktr
https://www.brainpickings.org/2017/10/17/richard-feynman-arline-letter/
======
JohnJamesRambo
Such a sweet read, thank you. It's strange how the story would be so different
if just a few more years had passed since the work on the compounds from fungi
and bacteria had begun. Feynman's hope was totally on the right track.

[https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Crude-death-rates-for-
tu...](https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Crude-death-rates-for-tuberculosis-
in-the-United-States-1900-2014-Note-that-with-the_fig1_307084755)

I also found this interesting from the wiki for TB since it is thought Arline
got TB from unpasteurized milk-

"Robert Koch identified and described the bacillus causing tuberculosis, M.
tuberculosis, on 24 March 1882. He received the Nobel Prize in physiology or
medicine in 1905 for this discovery. Koch did not believe the cattle and human
tuberculosis diseases were similar, which delayed the recognition of infected
milk as a source of infection. During the first half of the 1900s the risk of
transmission from this source was dramatically reduced after the application
of the pasteurization process."

~~~
fredgrott
in fact we got the FDA and milk, food inspections via Upton Sinclair's expose
on working in the Chicago stock yards and passing tb via untreated milk was
one the things highlighted

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menacingly
This style of writing is becoming more common and it is frustrating. The
author seems hell bent on making their words the focus rather than a window
through which you view a story.

~~~
chubot
I've always been annoyed by this, but now that I know the term "classic
style", it annoys me even more.

For those who haven't heard of it, "classic style" is explained in the recent
book _Sense of Style_ by Steven Pinker, and there's a nice diagram here:

[https://philosophicaldisquisitions.blogspot.com/2014/09/stev...](https://philosophicaldisquisitions.blogspot.com/2014/09/steven-
pinkers-guide-to-classic-style.html)

It's in opposition to academic style, legal style, self-conscious style, etc.

One distressing thing I've noticed is that some of my adult colleagues write
in "high school book report style". They seem to want to fill up a certain
number of words rather than getting straight to the point.

~~~
bitwize
Similar advice from Olin Shivers:
[http://web.cs.ucla.edu/~palsberg/shivers.html](http://web.cs.ucla.edu/~palsberg/shivers.html)

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the_coding_crab
Thanks for posting this. It was a super enjoyable, lil heart throb, lil sweet
story about true love.

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lenocinor
A nice article and a lovely read. Maybe some folks would view the fact that he
had two other wives later as sad, but it gives me hope that even when some of
the worst kind of heartbreak happens to you, you can eventually get better.

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rofo1
> You, dead, are so much better than anyone else alive.

Look at Feynman! Who knew!

I wonder what happens to our bodies, physically/chemically when one is in love
to that degree. I know only very superficially. Anyone to suggest a book on
this topic? Preferably one that backs its statements.

