Famous Scientists' Quirks

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Every two weeks, anecdotes about Einstein / Newton / Marie Curie / Feynman: quirks, failed experiments, personal feuds

Updates upon new events

Famous Scientists' Quirks2026-06-28

The Counterfeiter Newton Hunted

Isaac Newton's pursuit of counterfeiter William Chaloner shows the Royal Mint side of a scientist usually remembered for gravity and optics. The article follows Chaloner's public challenge to Newton, Newton's witness-building prosecution, and Chaloner's desperate final letter from Newgate before his 1699 execution.

Famous Scientists' Quirks2026-06-21

"I Don't Know Your New Address"

On October 17, 1946, sixteen months after his wife Arline died of tuberculosis at age 25, Richard Feynman sat down and wrote her a letter — sealed it, never mailed it, and kept it for the rest of his life. The letter was found, still sealed, in a box of papers after Feynman's death in 1988, and published by biographer James Gleick in 1992.

Famous Scientists' Quirks2026-06-14

The Letter Einstein Wrote in Five Days

In January 1936, an eleven-year-old named Phyllis wrote to Einstein from her Sunday school class asking whether scientists pray. He wrote back in five days — threading the line between science and faith with the same care he'd bring to a colleague, then comparing it to a much harsher letter he wrote eighteen years later.

Famous Scientists' Quirks2026-06-07

The Shed, the Glow, and the Name

In 1898, Marie Curie spent four years stirring boiling pitchblende in a leaking Paris shed — then named her first discovered element after an erased nation. The story of polonium, radioactive notebooks stored in lead boxes, and the price Curie paid for her obsession.

Famous Scientists' Quirks2026-05-31

"Twere Better If You Were Dead": The Letters Newton Wrote During His Breakdown

In September 1693, at the height of his fame, Isaac Newton wrote two letters accusing his friends Samuel Pepys and John Locke of conspiring against him — including the line "twere better if you were dead." The article reconstructs the episode, examines the two leading explanations (the collapse of his friendship with Nicolas Fatio de Duillier, and chronic mercury poisoning from decades of alchemical work), and traces Newton's recovery and his subsequent transformation into England's most effective counterfeiter hunter.

Famous Scientists' Quirks2026-05-24

"I Took This from Your Seal": The Day Feynman Broke the Challenger Commission Open

How a glass of ice water ended NASA's official story — in under a minute.

Famous Scientists' Quirks2026-05-17

"Don't Read That Hogwash": The Week Einstein Defended Marie Curie

In November 1911, while the press and a mob were circling Marie Curie over her affair with Paul Langevin, a 32-year-old Einstein wrote from Prague calling the scandal "hogwash" — and urged her to ignore it. The story of a week that changed two scientific lives.

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