Clair Patterson's story is ridiculously good. This Mental Floss article is my go-to share whenever he comes up. It's long, but a bit shorter than a dissertation :) Although I have saved the linked dissertation here to go through in-depth at my leisure.

The Most Important Scientist You’ve Never Heard Of

"For 60 years, American drivers unknowingly poisoned themselves by pumping leaded gasoline into their tanks. Here is the lifelong saga of Clair Patterson—a scientist who helped build the atomic bomb and discovered the true age of the Earth—and how he took on a billion-dollar industry to save humanity from itself."

http://mentalfloss.com/article/94569/clair-patterson-scienti...