A better (but less emotionally evocative) example might be Linux Pauling, who made large contributions to chemistry (eventually winning the nobel prize), but wh

A better (but less emotionally evocative) example might be Linux Pauling, who made large contributions to chemistry (eventually winning the nobel prize), but who in later life became a proponent of pseudoscience (megavitamin therapy). I can't say whether this paper is nonsense or legitimate, but people making major contributions to their field and then going off in interesting directions isn't unprecedented.