A Short Talk about Richard Feynman is Stephen Wolfram’s personal account of knowing and working with Feynman from the late 1970s until Feynman’s death. Wolfram describes Feynman’s enthusiasm for doing physics, his exceptional skill at calculation and his habit of working through difficult problems before searching for a simple intuitive explanation.

Wolfram recalls their discussions at Caltech and Thinking Machines Corporation, including work on quantum computing, physical randomness, Feynman diagrams and Wolfram’s rule 30 cellular automaton. He also describes Feynman’s interest in computers and early work leading towards Mathematica, while noting his preference for solving problems independently. The talk presents Feynman as both competitive and intellectually curious, with a strong attachment to the process of discovery. Wolfram also reflects on Feynman’s attitudes towards academic institutions, collaboration, leadership and creative work, offering a personal perspective on his working methods and character.