Freeman Dyson has long been my favorite physicist. He is also my favorite polymath and one of the all-time best science writers. This just published (2015) collection of papers includes talks about science, memoirs, articles on politics and history, and some technical papers. Included is the famous paper which introduces the classification of mathematicians into frogs and birds. Indeed Dyson was described as the Frog Prince of Physics in Salon in 1999. Include is an homage to George Green - and there is a technical article on partitions and the grand partition function - so Green Functions and partition functions in the same work - those who know me that this alone would likely cause me to add the book to my collection! This isn't a book that you would sit down and read from cover to cover (at least after the first time.) This is a great chance to read a variety of works by one of the greatest problem solvers who has ever lived. - Dyson is not a Nobel Prize winner, but if he wasn't going to get one for his seminal work in quantum field theory, he should have won for his work in adaptive optics. The paper on the origins of life should be read by every scientist - if you like it you should read Dyson's book Origins of Life, the second edition of which appeared in 1999. I'll write a review of this book at some point in the future.
So, in summary, a worthy addition to anyone's personal library - and a must read if you want to see what a first-rate public scientist does.
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