"He published some of his discoveries, but they were greeted with such contentious stupidity by the leading scientists of the day that he retired back into his shell with a strengthened resolve to work thereafter for his own satisfaction alone."
Accepting something today that is out of your paradigm still takes time. There are scientific theories being made everyday. Whether these theories are true of false, it will be hard to understand the meaning and thought that is put into them. People will always try to explain the unknown through some random shape, most theories will be disproved and will seem almost unbelievable as to how someone came up with it. There are those who give up and move on, and there are others like Newton, who will spend endless hours in what they believe is a correct resolution of the problem.
I wonder what if a modern day Newton were to come out of the shadows and present themselves. I wonder what would happen to society if something we had believed for hundred's of years was proven wrong. How would we as a society adapt compared to Newtons time? Would there be those who would refuse to accept theorems backed up by calculations and evidence?
