ABSTRACT
It seems as though eminent physicists invite apocryphal tales to be told about them. Ever since Archimedes jumped out of his bath shouting 'Eureka', people have assumed that physicists are, to say the least, odd. For example, Leonardo da Vinci shared the magnificent megalomania of the Renaissance, devising projects beyond the technical capabilities even of today. Newton's peculiarities were of a different kind. He was an introspective recluse who solved problems by intuition and later justified them. A story is told of how he informed Halley of one of his most fundamental discoveries of planetary motion. 'Yes' said Halley 'but how do you know that? Have you proved it?' Newton was taken aback. 'Why, I've known it for years. If you'll give me a few days, I'll certainly find you a proof of this', as in due course he did.
