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The Limits of Genius review: What made Newton and Einstein stupid?

Being a genius doesn't stop you looking directly at an eclipse or letting a trivial row prevent you finding a planet, says Katie Spalding in her new book

By Richard Lea

31 May 2023

A painting of Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, in London, 1767, wearing a blue suit with elaborate gold braid and buttons, a far cry from the simple dress he affected when he served as ambassador to France in later years. During his time in London, Franklin was the leading voice of American interests in England. He wrote popular essays on behalf of the colonies and was instrumental in securing the repeal of the 1765 Stamp Act. The painting is by David Martin and is currently on display in the White House. The bust on the left side is that of Isaac Newton. (Photo by: Pictures From History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Benjamin Franklin knocked himself unconscious electrocuting turkeys in front of dinner guests

Pictures from history/Getty Images

The Limits of Genius
Katie Spalding (Hachette)

HOW is Donald Trump like Isaac Newton? Mathematician and science writer Katie Spalding says that both were stupid enough to stare directly at the sun. The former US president and self-described “very stable genius” may have ignored an aide shouting “Don’t look!” during a 2017 eclipse, but the man who discovered the inverse-square law spent much of 1666 “doing just about anything to blind himself”, she writes.

In The Limits of Genius …

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