Richard Feynman

 Richard Phillips Feynman (May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988)    was an American  theoretical physicist  known for his work in the  path integral formulation  of  quantum mechanics, the theory of  quantum electrodynamics , and the physics of the  superfluidity  of supercooled  liquid helium , as well as in  particle physics  (he proposed the  parton  model). For his contributions to the development of quantum electrodynamics, Feynman, jointly with  Julian Schwinger  and  Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, received the  Nobel Prize in Physics  in 1965. He developed a widely used pictorial representation scheme for the mathematical expressions governing the behavior of  subatomic particles, which later became known as  Feynman diagrams. During his lifetime, Feynman became one of the best-known scientists in the world. In a 1999 poll of 130 leading physicists worldwide by the British journal Physics World he was ranked as one of the ten greatest physicists of all time.

He assisted in the development of the atomic bomb and was a member of the panel that investigated the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. In addition to his work in theoretical physics, Feynman has been credited with pioneering the field of quantum computing, and introducing the concept of nanotechnology. He held the Richard Chace Tolman professorship in theoretical physics at the California Institute of Technology.

Feynman was a keen popularizer of physics through both books and lectures, notably a 1959 talk on top-down nanotechnology called, There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom, and the three volume publication of his undergraduate lectures, The Feynman Lectures on Physics. Feynman also became known through his semi-autobiographical books, Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! and What Do You Care What Other People Think?, and books written about him, such as Tuva or Bust!.

He also had a deep interest in biology, and was a friend of the geneticist and microbiologist, Esther Lederberg, who developed replica plating and discoveredbacteriophage lambda. They had several mutual physicist friends who, after beginning their careers in nuclear research, moved into genetics, among them Max Delbrück and  Aaron Novick.

 Richard Feynman gets mentioned more than any other sceintist including Alber Einstein.

In The Vacation Solution, Sheldon takes a cue from Richard Feynman and dabbles in biology at Amy's lab

In THE Zazzy Substiution, Sheldon names one of hs cats after him.

In The Guitarist Amplication, Sheldon threatened to make loud noises by blaring a Feynman lecture.

''In The Werewolf Transformation, Sheldon takes up playing the bongos just like Feynman did. He mentions this and Penny tries to explain who he is at 3 AM. Penny doesn't care if Feynman is a purple lepracanun living i her butt. ''

In the Bat Jar Conjecture, one of the Physics Bowl questions includes a  Feynman-Diagram.

In The Skank Reflex Analysis, a Feynman Diagram is shown on one of the apartment's whiteboards.