What lecture series hosted Feynman's 1964 Cornell talks?

Feynman’s 1964 Cornell talks were hosted by the Messenger Lectures series.

The lectures were delivered at Cornell University and became the seven-part series later published as The Character of Physical Law. Feynman used the talks to explain broad ideas about physics—including symmetry, conservation laws, probability, and the relationship between mathematical descriptions and physical reality—to an educated general audience.

The Messenger Lectures were created through a gift from Hiram Messenger, a Cornell alumnus and benefactor. The series began in the 1920s and was intended to bring distinguished non-resident lecturers to campus to discuss civilization, society, and related intellectual subjects. Feynman’s appearance in 1964 became the series’ most famous installment.

The lectures are sometimes confused with other prestigious named lecture programs, such as the Norton, Reith, or Gifford Lectures. Those are separate series with different institutional histories. Feynman’s Cornell lectures were recorded by the BBC, published as a book in 1965, and later made widely accessible through online video and educational archives.