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.
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
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?