The FBI files on Richard Feynman

  • Posted on: 6 June 2012
  • By: ashok
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The FBI files of noted physicist, esteemed author and Nobel prize winner Richard Feynman have been released as a result of a Freedom of Information Actrequest by Michael Morisy of MuckRock.com. Feynman and the Federal Bureau of Investigationhad an extended encounter after the Bureau discovered he had been invited to speak at the USSR, which set off a flurry of investigations into his loyalty — even as he pestered the State Department for guidance on whether he should or shouldn't go, guidance they only gave belatedly. Of particular interest to the FBI was his avid devotion to the art of lock picking, his high school membership in a socialism club (for social reasons, he swore), and the fact that he was a godless scientist who loved his bongo drums.

MuckRock has the original documents as well as the full analysis here. Especially interesting is a seven-page letter detailing a conspiracy theory that Feynman was a sleeper agent for enemies unknown, but probably communist ones.