Richard Feynman is one of my heroes. Feynman is no longer alive, but one of the many interesting people who intersected with him is: Freeman Dyson. (Freeman Dyson wrote the Foreward to The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman.)
The New York Times Magazine has a long article about Freeman Dyson: The Civil Heretic. It is well worth reading.
What is science? Dyson's answer (in the NYT article) is similar to Feynman's (here): Science is doubting the experts.
In 1966 Feynman said: "There is a considerable amount of intellectual tyranny in the name of science." (source) I think Dyson would agree that is still true today.
UPDATE: The NYT Magazine article on Freeman Dyson hit a nerve. Here are two followup NYT blog posts (with numerous links and comments):
John Tierney: Tragedy Is Not Freeman Dyson’s Business
Andrew Revkin: Some Inconvenient Thinkers
FURTHER UPDATE: See also Freeman Dyson in his own words and If it hadn't been for the war...
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