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Experts from a US museum believe it could be one of the oldest examples of advanced surgery. The Museum of Osteology in Oklahoma said the skull is reported to have been that of a man who was injured in battle before undergoing surgery to implant a piece of metal in his head to repair a fracture.
Standing on the shoulders of giants.
Actually the opposite.
All those famous early scientists were just the only ones with access to libraries or even the ability to read back then.
They figured a bunch of shit out, but it's because they were the only ones with the time and resources to sit around and bounce ideas off each other.
If you only educate like 0.01% of the population, you shouldn't be surprised when that who comes up with innovation.
But your odds are better if you educate everyone, and then throw the smartest together. Rather than just hoping the rich upper class has a couple smart people this generation.