Probably a major amount of important scientists. Many are known to have been eccentric or downright socially inept; while social ineptitude can be a bit of a hindrance for becoming famous, eccentricity helps a lot with making people remember you. Do most people know Einstein because of his science, or because he’s visually distinct and has that wild photo with his tongue out?
Newton is known for physics but I just learned from the Stuff You Should Know pod cast that he was also an alchemist and really worked and studied a lot trying to turn things into gold and discover the elixir of youth
I think I know Einstein because it was so common to call people Einstein either genuinely or sarcastically, I didn’t see the tongue out photo til probably a decade after
I’d assume that he got that reputation because of that image. Once a person becomes a household name, the original thing that made them famous often becomes somewhat forgotten; it’s similar to how today’s memes work. As an example, I’ve been somewhat involved with pokemon online culture for over 10 years and knew about the nuzlocke challenge, but only today did I learn that it came from a webcomic. And I actually read a lot of webcomics, and the webcomic in question was pretty high quality.
Probably a major amount of important scientists. Many are known to have been eccentric or downright socially inept; while social ineptitude can be a bit of a hindrance for becoming famous, eccentricity helps a lot with making people remember you. Do most people know Einstein because of his science, or because he’s visually distinct and has that wild photo with his tongue out?
The Einstein picture was on his bIrthday when he wad asked to smile. Not sure if that confirms or refutes your argument
Probably Newton and Tesla. Both seemed to not really understand other people and were more focused on their specific hobbies
Newton is known for physics but I just learned from the Stuff You Should Know pod cast that he was also an alchemist and really worked and studied a lot trying to turn things into gold and discover the elixir of youth
https://youtu.be/3usaGfn7r0w
Newton wishes he met this guy
Definitely both of them.
I think I know Einstein because it was so common to call people Einstein either genuinely or sarcastically, I didn’t see the tongue out photo til probably a decade after
I’d assume that he got that reputation because of that image. Once a person becomes a household name, the original thing that made them famous often becomes somewhat forgotten; it’s similar to how today’s memes work. As an example, I’ve been somewhat involved with pokemon online culture for over 10 years and knew about the nuzlocke challenge, but only today did I learn that it came from a webcomic. And I actually read a lot of webcomics, and the webcomic in question was pretty high quality.