Who are your favorite overlooked historical figures?
Who are your favorite overlooked historical figures?
Lots of people were way more important than history books give them credit for. Do you have a favorite?
Mine are Ibn al-Haytham and Mansa Musa. For very different reasons. Ibn al-Haytham basically invented the scientific method. And Mansa Musa was such a baller that he caused inflation when he visited places.
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Thank you for opting for "overlooked" and not using "underrated".
Maybe there are less famous people, but I think that Richard Feynman should be better appreciated. Reading his books taught me how to approach problems, both from a "how to ask" perspective to "why is this not really the question."
How to think critically.
Any particular titles you recommend from him?
Surely you're joking Mr. Feynman
That being the name of the book and not a snide comment :)
He did a series of lectures aimed at undergraduates that CalTech recorded and made available: https://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/
It’s not “general audience” but you don’t need a doctorate to enjoy them or anything. It’s a Nobel Prize winner explaining something he’s struggling to understand at times so don’t expect to get it all on your first go but he’s about as good a science communicator as you can realistically ask for.
Feynman Diagrams blow my mind sometimes. Like, his drawings to simplify a complex subject were basically a new form of math. But also…isn’t all math just drawings to understand a complex subject?