As a physicist myself, I am quite in awe of this man's contribution to my field, but I was fortunate enough to have recently been given the opportunity to dig a little into his life and work through my recent filming of a three-part BBC Four series on medieval Islamic scientists.

BBC: The 'first true scientist'

Still, the older man was in awe of Lewis' numbers-driven, detail-obsessed ways.

FORBES: Money For The Masses

In fact, one of the most awe-inspiring things about Burning Man is the sheer scale resulting from the collective creative imagination of 40, 000-plus people.

FORBES: Burning Man: Lessons From the Desert

Finnish entrepreneurs such as the man behind Angry Birds were treated with awe.

ECONOMIST: Schumpeter

But the awe and inspiration that I hold for the genius of Bill Lear, and the man that he was, continues to fly high.

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