The impression I got on reading Feynman's "Surely You're Joke...", was that Feynman was a magician in the ordinary sense of the word; he liked to produce results in a fashion that was maximally dramatic and maximally inexplicable (whether those results involved opening safes or calculating complex formulas).
And consider. The first sleight-of-hand magicians were village shamans who used the wonder the "magic" produced to leverage the power of suggestion for healing. But we know that the effect of superstition on society as a whole is detrimental.
Similarly, the belief that Feynman really had "magic" ways to unlock safes or solve math problems is less-than-useful.
Edit: I think that it is true that some fraction of scientists operate as "magicians" but some of this can come from a remarkably selfish position - the desire maintain their colleagues in awe and ignorance. I don't think Feynman in particular was in this unfortunate category but I've seen some folks whose approach was basically abusive.
And consider. The first sleight-of-hand magicians were village shamans who used the wonder the "magic" produced to leverage the power of suggestion for healing. But we know that the effect of superstition on society as a whole is detrimental.
Similarly, the belief that Feynman really had "magic" ways to unlock safes or solve math problems is less-than-useful.
Edit: I think that it is true that some fraction of scientists operate as "magicians" but some of this can come from a remarkably selfish position - the desire maintain their colleagues in awe and ignorance. I don't think Feynman in particular was in this unfortunate category but I've seen some folks whose approach was basically abusive.