Anyway, Smith told me to sign some papers for the three ideas I was giving to the government to patent. Now, it's some dopey legal thing, but when you give the patent to the government, the document you sign is not a legal document unless there's some exchange, so the paper I signed said, "For the sum of one dollar, I, Richard P. Feynman, give this idea to the government. . ."

I sign the paper. "Where's my dollar?"

"That's just a formality," he says. "We haven't got any funds set up to give a dollar."

"You've got it all set up that I'm signing for the dollar," I say. "I want my dollar!"

"This is silly," Smith protests. "No, it's not," I say. "It's a legal document. You made me sign it, and I'm an honest man. There's no fooling around about it."

"All right, all right!" he says, exasperated. "I'll give you a dollar, from my pocket!"

"OK."

I take the dollar, and I realize what I'm going to do. I go down to the grocery store, and I buy a dollar's worth -- ­­which was pretty good, then -- of cookies and goodies, those chocolate goodies with marshmallow inside, a whole lot of stuff.

I come back to the theoretical laboratory, and I give them out: "I got a prize, everybody! Have a cookie! I got a prize! A dollar for my patent! I got a dollar for my patent! "

Everybody who had one of those patents­­ -- a lot of people had been sending them in -- ­­everybody comes down to Captain Smith: they want their dollar!

He starts shelling them out of his pocket, but soon realizes that it's going to be a hemorrhage! He went crazy trying to set up a fund where he could get the dollars these guys were insisting on. I don't know how he settled up.

I've thought about this exchange a few times when I've signed over patents where the document claims they gave me "good and valuable consideration" when they really didn't. Maybe if I could actually have bought something for a dollar I would have demanded it.

But they still own it, which means not only did they have the idea in the first place but they also have the ability to use it if they see fit.

I don't foresee them doing so simply because of how bad they are already doing and how extremely bad it would go, but the idea is still in their court.