title: Eccentrics: A Study of Sanity and Strangeness
author:  David Weeks 
description: This book summarizes findings from the first systematic study of "eccentrics": highly talented and unusual people who are somewhere between "normal" and "nuts". This is a domain occupied by genuine geniuses and charming crackpots whose common feature is that they refuse to hold commonly held beliefs or refuse to act in accordance with the norms of society. Although the book would have been a more compelling read if it treated each individual in more depth, and its conclusions more convincing if there were more tables of data, it is nonetheless a delightful book that will give you either more respect for the eccentric (if you believe that you are "normal") or greater confidence in yourself (if you suspect--or know--that <i>you</i> are eccentric). Recommended.
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  # The Strangest Man
  
  _The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac,  
  Quantum Genius_
  
  GRAHAM FARMELO
  
  ![alt](faf_logo.png)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  To my mother and the memory of my late father
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Contents
  
  [Prologue](9780571250073_chapter_01.html)
  
  [The Strangest Man](9780571250073_chapter_02.html)
  
  [Abbreviations in Notes](9780571250073_chapter_33.html)
  
  [Notes](9780571250073_notes.html)
  
  [Bibliography](9780571250073_bibliography.html)
  
  [List of Plates](9780571250073_chapter_34.html)
  
  [Acknowledgements](9780571250073_acknowledgements.html)
  
  [Index](9780571250073_index01.html)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [T]he amount of eccentricity in a society has generally been proportional to
  the amount of genius, mental vigour, and moral courage which it contained.
  That so few now dare to be eccentric, marks the chief danger of the time.
  
  
  JOHN STUART MILL, _On Libert