Addition, Defined Via Subtraction

FEYNMAN, Richard (1918–1988). Autograph mathematical manuscript, “System giving addition, defined via subtraction”, c. 1969. A characteristic and playful mathematical exercise by Richard Feynman , written several years after his Nobel Prize. On this Caltech memo sheet, Feynman attempts to define addition in terms of subtraction, exploring the commutative law of arithmetic through an intentionally unconventional approach. Though lighthearted, the manuscript reflects a lifelong fascination with symbolic manipulation. From his youthful notebooks to his breakthrough work in quantum electrodynamics, Feynman delighted in rebuilding familiar ideas from first principles and testing where unusual lines of reasoning might lead. The precise purpose of this manuscript is unclear, but it offers a glimpse of Feynman at play in 1969: one of the twentieth century's great physicists at the height of his reputation, still finding personal pleasure in rethinking the fundamentals. 1 page (280 × 216mm), California Institute of Technology interoffice memo letterhead (toned at edges and fold, small hole in fold). Custom cloth folder, spine gilt-lettered.

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