Isaac Newton

Newton made our natural world absolute and mathematical. He's the point at which Physics and Philosophy split paths. Suddenly the world was deterministic, they could predict solar eclipses and the path of comets. Gods, myths and the unknown had to retreat.

A fascinating biography of the man who triggered that monumental change. Who had to grapple new concepts and assign words to novel phenomena (gravity!). A scholar who equally dabbled in natural sciences yet also was obsessed with alchemy and religion. A shut-in who discovered optics and the laws of motion, yet kept that knowledge to himself, refusing to publish because he liked nothing less than dispute with scientists of opposing believes. And yet he quarreled a lot, with Robert Hooke, and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. Newton came out on top, and even ended his life quite wealthy, minting coins for the King, and presiding over the The Royal Society.

Hard to imagine that any future scientific discovery would ever have such a monumental effect over our world views again. And if yes, it'll be scary.