In this unusual and penetrating work, Clifford Pickover -- internationally recognized science popularizer -- takes us on a wild ride through the bizarre lives of brilliant, but eccentric geniuses who made significant contributions to science and philosophy. Unveiling the hidden secrets of a number of the most intelligent and prolific real-life mad scientists, Pickover delights us with unexpected stories of their obsessive personalities and strange phobias. These common threads lead us to wonder if creativity and genius are inextricably linked to madness.
A highly entertaining collection of oddity and mischief, this original new work playfully uncovers the scandalous details that lurk behind the unseemly lives of these geniuses. We discover the �Unabomber�, Ted Kaczynski, a mathematical whiz with an IQ of 170, was pathologically shy, had an uncontrollable obsession with loud sounds, especially earthy bodily noises, and enjoyed playing practical jokes in high school, such as creating homemade gadgets that would pop loudly and emit a stream of violet smoke amid class -- a compulsion that may have turned deadly.
Then there was the great inventor Nikola Tesla who had a peculiar love for pigeons, particularly white ones, and was terrified of women�s pearls. Plenty of other surprises abound, including the statistician and world explorer Francis Galton who quantified anything he saw -- including the curves of women�s bodies, and then there are others who all lived exceedingly unusual sexual or celibate lives.
Moreover, a fascinating �curiosity smorgasbord� to whet our appetites teases us with provocative questions to ponder along the way... How does manic depression affect the creativity of artists? How does epilepsy effect religious and alien abduction experiences? Where is Einstein�s brain? Is it true that humans use only 10% of their brain capacity? What is IQ? What is obsessive-compulsive disorder? Also, find out how you would fit into the astonishing results of Pickover�s human mind survey on intelligence, memory, and the brain, which he conducted exclusively over the Internet.
This whimsical romp through mad obsessions, compulsive rituals, and brilliant theories will allow you to gaze unrestrained into the secret lives of extraordinarily brainy but peculiar people. An illuminating page-turner, it will surely satisfy anoyone�s curiosity as Pickover opens the doors to a disturbingly alluring realm of geniuses, eccentrics, and madmen.