"He was a scientist who was convinced a theory he had developed was true"

That is an absurd sentence. Well, I've been accused of repeating myself. So here I go again. No good scientist is ever convinced that theories are true. Theories are attempts to explain phenomena and are never "true." it's entirely the wrong way to put it. If you're right about him, he wasn't a scientist. In this case, I suspect that it's you not understanding the scientific process. You do have form.

"The history of science is a lot more complicated than you seem to present it, Steve. "

Going from your shaky understanding of what science is all about, I'd respectfully suggest that you may not be the best person to be advising me of that.