> He didn't believe that women would be as capable of doing physics
Interesting, from having read about his sister[1] I really got the impression that this limiting belief was something he bucked heavily, despite having been explicitly taught women were incapable of science by their mother and grandmother:
> Joan was an inquisitive child, and she exhibited an interest in understanding the natural world from an early age. However, her mother and grandmother both dissuaded her from pursuing science, since they believed that women's brains were not physically capable of understanding complex scientific concepts in the way that men's brains could. Despite this, her brother Richard always encouraged her to be curious about the universe. It was he who originally introduced young Joan to auroras when, one night, he coaxed her out of bed to witness the northern lights flickering above an empty golf course near their home
Most people who hold bigoted beliefs permit exceptions. Feynman is on written record saying things like being surprised that a particular person was able to do physics, given that they were a woman. It would not surprise me even a little that there were some women that Feynman believed to be intellectual exceptions while also holding nasty beliefs about women in general.
Even if all of this is excused as a product of the man's time (I don't believe that all of it can be), it still adds a disappointing aura to the otherwise fascinating stories he tells.
Interesting, from having read about his sister[1] I really got the impression that this limiting belief was something he bucked heavily, despite having been explicitly taught women were incapable of science by their mother and grandmother:
> Joan was an inquisitive child, and she exhibited an interest in understanding the natural world from an early age. However, her mother and grandmother both dissuaded her from pursuing science, since they believed that women's brains were not physically capable of understanding complex scientific concepts in the way that men's brains could. Despite this, her brother Richard always encouraged her to be curious about the universe. It was he who originally introduced young Joan to auroras when, one night, he coaxed her out of bed to witness the northern lights flickering above an empty golf course near their home
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Feynman