A: There's a fine line between genius and madness, and Isaac Newton skipped back and forth over it like a hopscotch-happy schoolgirl. When Newton would wake up in the morning he would often sit on the edge of his bed for hours, and would go through his days often forgetting to eat. Perhaps this lack of food helps explain why Newton was such a notorious grouch, even to his friends. Also, despite being one of the greatest scientists the world has ever known, Newton spent much of his time either practicing alchemy (trying to prove lead could be turned into gold) or trying to disprove the Christian religious tenet of the Trinity.

When he did devote time to serious science, some of his methods didn't exactly indicate soundness of mind. While studying lights and colors, Newton once stuck a big needle in his eye socket to determine what was back there. He also once stared at the sun so long that he had to spend days in a darkened room to recover his vision. Some people use the word "crazy" to explain such behavior; we use the word "dedicated."