Two possible explanations: 1) He was clever, had many interesting ideas, but was caught up in a culture that caused him to publish his ideas in essays/aticles

Two possible explanations: 1) He was clever, had many interesting ideas, but was caught up in a culture that caused him to publish his ideas in essays/aticles that were largely meaningless, causing the ideas to go mostly unnoticed. 2) Even a defective clock tells the correct time twice a day.