People like to emulate the habits of successful people, but copying the dietary habits of legendary scientists would lead into some unusual places. Pythagoras was a vegetarian due to his belief that, after death, human souls could pass into the bodies of animals. He also held a more mysterious aversion to beans. Nikola Tesla also avoided beans, because he felt that acidic foods like beans, peas or fish were unhealthy. Albert Einstein became a vegetarian in his old age, not for the reasons of Pythagoras, but because of his conscience. Finally, Charles Darwin went from sampling eagle and owl meat as a student at Cambridge to eating armadillos and rodents during his journeys on the HMS Beagle.
Key Takeaways:
- The ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras opposed not just eating meat, but eating beans as well.
- As a student at Cambridge, Charles Darwin was a member of the Glutton Club, dedicated to eating strange flesh, such as hawk and owl meat.
- Scientist Nikola Tesla thought acid-producing foods were unhealthy, so he rejected peas, beans and fish.
“Whether you’re talking about Elon Musk or Benjamin Franklin, a curious public is dying to know their work habits, sleep habits, favorite books, and even what they eat, all in the hope of getting a little bit of that success for themselves.”
Read more: https://curiosity.com/topics/the-weird-diets-of-4-historic-scientists-curiosity