First in the series is an imaginary meeting between the legendary physicist Richard Feynman and Microsoft's Bill Gates.

Much of what Feynman says in response to Gates’ questions is what he actually said over the years in lectures, books and conversations with friends.

For inventing Gates’ questions, I relied mostly on his speeches, his New York Times columns, and his books The Road Ahead and Business @ the Speed of Thought.

Being a Feynman fan is a prerequisite for attempting something like this; being a physics major also helped. (I first came across The Feynman Lectures on Physics as a physics undergraduate at Dhaka University in Bangladesh. I felt compelled to write to Feynman, telling him how much of an inspiration he is to physicists around the world, beginners and professionals alike. To my pleasant surprise, Feynman replied, saying he was happy that his Lectures had such a positive effect. But what I remember most about the letter was the evidence of his large-heartedness. In my letter I had lamented the lack of great physicists in underdeveloped countries. Feynman disagreed and wrote: "In Abdus Salam, you have one of the great theoretical physicists of our time. Every time I speak with him, I learn something new.")

Note: Feynman prepared for the trip to Tannu Tuva with the curiosity and excitement of a child but never made it as fate intervened. As a tribute to his spirit, his friend Ralph Leighton traveled to Tuva in July of 1988. Leighton tells the story with loving detail in his book Tuva or Bust: Richard Feynman’s Last Journey.