Einstein was completely unknown and did not even have a doctorate when he published his 1905 papers on special relativity, brownian motion, and the photoelectric effect.

And it was many years before his theories were generally accepted, especially by some of the older physicists.

It's difficult to overcome scientific dogma at any time. To get his doctorate, Einstein had to write an unimportant, very forgettable paper which didn't challenge any of his professors' preconceptions.

I second this nomination.

"Asimov on Numbers" is a good place to start. It's a collection of his best essays on mathematics.