The philosopher, mathematician, and physicist Georg Christoph Lichtenberg is one of the most brilliant writers of German literature. Although he did not publish a large part of his extensive oeuvre during his lifetime, he recorded it in Kladden, his Sudelbüchern, as he called them. When these notes appeared posthumously, it became clear to all readers that there was "a whole Milky Way of ideas" to observe. Many of Lichtenberg's "penny truths" have long since become quotation classics, such as: "It is almost impossible to carry the torch of truth through a scrum without scorching someone's beard." In this study of Lichtenberg, Heiko Postma traces the life of this scholar and witty man of letters, enriching it with vivid examples from Lichtenberg's letters and writings.