Richard P. Feynman was born in 1918 and grew up in Far Rockaway, New York. At the age of seventeen he entered MIT and in 1939 went to Princeton, then to Los Alamos, where he joined in the effort to build the atomic bomb. Following World War II he joined the physics faculty at Cornell, then went on to Caltech in 1951, where he taught until his death in 1988. He shared the Nobel Prize for physics in 1965, and served with distinction on the Shuttle Commission in 1986. A commemorative stamp in his name was issued by the U.S. Postal Service in 2005.

Sean Runnette, a multiple "AudioFile" Earphones Award winner, has produced several Audie Award winning audiobooks and has also narrated works by John Steinbeck and Richard P. Feynman. Of his performance of "The Courage to be Free", "AudioFile" Magazine wrote "Runnette s tender approach to every sentence and paragraph helps the author s wisdom glow. Along with the understated power of the author s writing, Runnette s performance makes this one of the most arresting and thought-provoking audiobooks available today." He is a member of the American Repertory Theater company and has toured internationally with Mabou Mines, an avant-garde theater company. Sean's television and film appearances include "Two If by Sea", "Copland", "Sex and the City", "Law & Order", "Third Watch."