It's probably the media that changed the way it covers things. Einstein became a celebrity because his theories challenged that of another famous name, Newton.

It's probably the media that changed the way it covers things. Einstein became a celebrity because his theories challenged that of another famous name, Newton. Famous scientists almost didn't exist, so Einstein's celebrity was a noticeable exception. Leonardo was not a big celebrity in his day, he was known in the art world, like the programmer who made Java is known in the CS world.