The absent-minded professor is a stock character in popular fiction, usually portrayed as an intelligent but bumbling academic whose focus on scientific matters causes him or her to lose track of the everyday world. Isaac Newton, Adam Smith, and Archimedes were all considered absent-minded professors by their contemporaries. What philosopher is said to have fallen down a well because he had his eyes focused on the heavens instead of the ground in front of him while walking at night? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary