If Sidney Crosby had been born in the Middle Ages, I suspect he would have become a monk. He prizes excellence above all else, yet conducts himself with a startling simplicity, even austerity, compared to his peers. In an age where excellence was measured in holiness, it’s easy to imagine him doing everything possible to be holier than everyone else, while happily sleeping on a wooden board.

In Renaissance Italy, it’s easy to imagine him an artist or artisan, eschewing personal extravagances to focus entirely on the perfection of his craft. In Victorian Britain, a naval captain who knows every last thing about rigging, innovates new methods of seafaring and earns the respect of his men by fighting with them.

During the Industrial Revolution, an inventor who obsesses over the finest detai

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