"It's just that the people who only care about personal wealth rarely make it into history books, whereas the iconoclastic scientists frequently do."
Arguably even this isn't true - Many people know the name of, say, Archimedes and Newton, but I doubt it's more than the people who know Julius Caesar and Genghis Khan. Might be close though.
What I'm trying to say is, what percentage of people can name a couple of great thinkers from the classical era? Now compare that to the percentage of people who can name a wealthy merchant or banker from the same period.
Arguably even this isn't true - Many people know the name of, say, Archimedes and Newton, but I doubt it's more than the people who know Julius Caesar and Genghis Khan. Might be close though.