Linus Pauling.

This view of "the father of modern chemistry and his ultimate fall from grace" concentrates on Pauling's campaign to prove that large doses of vitamin C could prevent all kinds of diseases, including cancer. He was undeterred at being rebuffed by leading cancer specialists and even the death of his wife from cancer did not shake his faith in his idea. He set up research at the Linus Pauling Institute to investigate vitamin C's potential as a cure for heart disease, and as a result of this, vitamin C became associated with a lower cholesterol count. As an anti-oxidant it may indeed help to prevent some degenerative diseases - and even to fight cancer. The medical profession is now less hostile to Prof. Pauling's work. His biographer, Anthony Serafini, claims that science needs heretics, as major breakthroughs are achieved by scientists who are not afraid to take the risk of being wrong.