John Loudon MacAdam

This Man did his homework: Literally. He experimented with different types of road building at home, and invented modern road construction.
"As a result of his investigations, in which he himself plied pick and shovel like any navvy, McAdam came to the conclusion that roads ought to be made exclusively of broken stone. The model road which he planned was to be raised slightly above the level of the surrounding land, and provided with an adequate drainage system. The road itself was to be built up from thin layers of stone, broken into more or less cube-shaped fragments, each one of which was not to weigh more than six ounces."