Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! summary

One morning, Richard Feynman received a very early phone call that woke him up at 4:30 a.m. The caller informed him that he’d won the Nobel Prize in Physics. Still half-asleep, Feynman thought it was a prank and dismissively said he was sleeping before hanging up. When he told his wife about the call, she didn't believe him either, as he was known for playing jokes on her.

After getting up, though, the news started to sink in. Feynman contemplated whether he could refuse to accept the Nobel Prize without causing too much of a stir. He called a reporter at Time magazine off the record, asking if there was any way out of accepting the award. The reporter regretfully told him there was no way to refuse it gracefully. So, reluctantly, Feynman accepted that he would have to go through with the pomp and ceremony around receiving the prize.

The Swedish consulate in Los Angeles wanted to host a reception for Feynman. They asked him to provide a guest list, which Feynman kept short with around 8 people – including his neighbor. In contrast, the consulate's own guest list had 300 names, including governors and other VIPs. Amusingly, there was no overlap between the two lists. Feynman ended up calling the consulate back to cancel the reception altogether, much to the relief of the consulate organizer who didn't want to host it either.

This left only the formal thank-you speech. Feynman became anxious about how to craft a speech that was honest but also had the expected polite niceties. He didn't really want the Nobel Prize but knew he couldn't just blithely say a typical “thank you very much.” Eventually, he gave a clever speech explaining that he had already gotten everything he wanted from his career – the pleasure of discovery and seeing his work used. He said the supportive letters from old friends after the prize meant more to him than the prize itself. 

The speech allowed Feynman to be truthful while also meeting convention – a characteristic compromise.