I love the story of Faraday and Maxwell precisely for this reason. Maxwell was a bonafide genius, but Faraday was just really good at note-taking and doing expe

I love the story of Faraday and Maxwell precisely for this reason. Maxwell was a bonafide genius, but Faraday was just really good at note-taking and doing experiments. Because of those talents, Faraday was able to document a lifetime of experiments with electricity. Maxwell read the entire record of those experiments and was able to derive the mathematical model of what was happening. It seems that it takes more than just "genius" for progress to occur: creativity, hard work, diligence, and passion are also required, as well as a society that supports the people engaging in such endeavors.