René Descartes revolutionized philosophy, science and mathematics, but did you know he moved to Amsterdam in the early 17th century for the same reason young people continue to go there today? Yes, he went to smoke a lot of weed and get away from his father. And then he became a fanatical supporter of a weird religious sect that didn’t actually exist.

Meanwhile, Ada Lovelace – mathematical prodigy and author of the first computer program in the 1840s – was a compulsive gambler. She lost so big she sold the family jewels, and when her mother-in-law bought them back, Lovelace lost them all over again. In fact, she was still in debt when she died.

These are just two examples from The Limits of Genius: the Surprising Stupidity of the World’s Greatest Minds, written by science journalist Katie Spalding. In this informative, funny book, Spalding profiles people widely considered to have been geniuses. In each case she briefly sketches their background before digging deep into examples of when they were…not so clever.

Spalding’s style is chatty and irreverent, with quite a bit of swearing, so that at times this book reads like a series of Twitter threads – admittedly impeccably researched and heavily footnoted Twitter threads. And though you may already be familiar with some stories – such as astronomer Tycho Brahe’s penchant for getting drunk and fighting duels – the mix of people covered means there is bound to be something new to you.

As Spalding’s introduction admits, however, there aren’t many women in this book. This is largely because the women who have managed to achieve renown tend to be written about so little that their interesting quirks and flaws just weren’t recorded, which means the chapters about women feel lighter on detail.

“Stupid” is also a subjective label. Spalding is quick to point out the racism, sexism, ableism and other forms of bigotry her subjects suffered from or were guilty of. But she also includes issues that could be seen as out of an individual’s control rather than “stupid”. For example, psychologist Sigmund Freud probably didn’t know cocaine was massively addictive before he started using (and prescribing) it in huge quantities. And civil rights activist and author Maya Angelou certainly couldn’t help having a murderously dangerous mother.

On the other hand, in some cases the acts of stupidity are intrinsically linked to the scientific research being conducted. Physicist Marie Curie did carry around radioactive materials in her pockets, leading to horrible skin lesions and her early death – but it’s also in part how she figured out radioactivity. The meteorologist and aeronaut James Glaisher did nearly kill himself by taking multiple hot-air balloon flights so high that he passed out (the exact height is unknown because all his instruments broke). But from these accidents he figured out details of the Earth’s atmosphere that revolutionized the nascent field of meteorology.

So The Limits of Genius might be best described as a highly entertaining whistle-stop tour of lesser-known facts and anecdotes about well-known people. With swears.

• 2023 Hachette 352pp £22hb
• Sold in the US with the title Edison’s Ghosts: the Untold Weirdness of History’s Greatest Geniuses (2023 Hachette 352pp $29hb)