The great people have their quirks.
No beans
The great Greek mathematician Pythagoras gave science a theorem which later became the basis of geometry. However, not all his ideas have stood the test of time. Pythagoras strongly supported the idea of vegetarianism, and yet one aspect of this practice was a complete ban legumes. According to legend, these seeds have been involved in his death. Running away from the robbers, he came across a field strewn with beans and decided it was better to die than to set foot on it. Then the attackers caught up with him and slit his throat.
Went on need
Tycho Brahe was a Danish astronomer who lived in the sixteenth century, was famous for his eccentric life and equally strange death. In College he lost his nose during a duel, and since then wore a metal prosthesis. But Quiet was still the funny guy who probably killed him. During a Banquet in Prague, Tycho didn’t leave the toilet until the very end, because it was considered a breach of etiquette. After which he earned inflammation of the kidneys and his bladder burst 11 days later.
A genius ahead of his time
Nikola Tesla was one of the greatest scientists of all time. He immigrated from Serbia in the United States in 1884, where he began working for Thomas Edison, making staggering discoveries in radiokonstruktor, robotics and electricity. Some of them, Edison was appropriated. The word Tesla was impulsive, not only during work: he suffered obsessive compulsive disorder – namely, very afraid of germs. In addition, he became obsessed with the number 3, bypassing the building three times before entering it. During each meal, he had exactly 18 napkins to RUB the Cutlery to Shine.
Absent-minded Professor
Werner Heisenberg probably one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists with cockroaches in my head. In 1927 he developed the famous in quantum mechanics, the uncertainty principle, which explain the behaviour of subatomic particles. Despite this he almost failed his PhD exam, because it had almost no practical knowledge. When the Professor asked him, how does the battery last – and he had not the slightest idea.
Genius, workaholic
Physicist Robert Oppenheimer was an incredibly gifted man: fluent in eight languages, had a wide knowledge in philosophy, linguistics, and even poetry. Sometimes it was hard for him to understand other people due to their insufficient education. For example, in 1931 the great physicist asked his colleague at the University of California at Berkeley, Leo Nedelsky, to prepare himself for a lecture, noting that this should be easy because all the material was in the book that was given to him by Oppenheimer. Soon puzzled Leo came back because the book was completely in Dutch. What genius said, “But it’s such an easy language!”.
The diary of a lifetime
Architect and scholar Richard fuller is best known for its creation of the geodesic dome (a spatial steel lattice shell of straight bars), development of future cities and the creation of a vehicle called “Dymaxion”. But in addition, fuller was a little eccentric: he wore on the hand three clocks to always know the accurate time of different time zones for several years slept only two hours a day (called it a “sleep Dimension”), but soon gave up, because his colleagues couldn’t follow his work. But the most interesting thing is that the scientist kept a detailed diary throughout his life from 1915 to 1983 (in which events were recorded every 15 minutes). In consequence of this log called “chronicle of Dymaxion” (includes 82 feet tall) and he is now at Stanford University.
The homeless mathematician
PAL erdös was so devoted to his work, never married, lived out of suitcases, often appearing on the doorstep from my friends with a “my brain is open”, and then left with his head in numbers for a day or two. Not to waste a single minute wasted he cups whipped coffee, took caffeine pills and amphetamines. The result: thousands of published works, and even mathematics brought the number of erdös (in simple words, the length of the shortest path from man to the erdős on joint works).
Physicist-funny
Richard Feynman was one of the most prolific and well-known scientists of the 20th century. That only is his participation in the top-secret Manhattan project. But Richard was not that much fun. For example, when he was bored in the Manhattan project, he opened the locks and cracked safes, demonstrating how easy it is to circumvent the security system. Simultaneously with the development of the theory of quantum electrodynamics, Feynman was hanging out with strippers, thoroughly learned the language of the Maya, mastered Tuvan throat singing, and was able to explain how the rubber o-rings caused the explosion of the spacecraft “Challenger” in 1986.
Granite instead of furniture
British mathematician and electrical engineer Oliver O. Heaviside developed a set of methods for the analysis of electric circuits and solution of differential equations. However, he had his own cockroaches in my head. Oliver made the whole house large granite block, paint the nails in bright pink all day and could only drink milk. Besides, he suffered from hypergraphia (a brain condition that causes an overwhelming desire to write).
Bone wars
During the Jurassic fever (late 18th – early 19th centuries) a paleontologist at the Peabody Museum at Yale University’s Othniel Charles Marsh and the Academy of natural Sciences tried to outdo each other, with the result that they became sworn enemies. Once the March had bribed the guards of the excavation, to assign all the finds themselves. During one of the expeditions he sent his people to follow cope. According to rumors the mount spies blew up each other, for fear of exposure. Years Marsh and cope’s publicly humiliated each other in scientific articles, accusing them of financial fraud and professional incompetence. Nevertheless, they have made a huge contribution to paleontology: thanks to their efforts have been discovered such classic representatives of the ancient times as stegosaurus, Triceratops, Diplodocus and Apatosaurus.
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