re: Complete ignorance....
Actually, people didn't laugh at Einstein or Galileo or Newton. Most people didn't even get what they were talking about at first, except for maybe Galileo. He just ticked off the Church, which was not known for its sense of humor.
I just get tired of these old cliches that everyone laughed at these great geniuses when they first came out with their ideas. The general public did not get them or cared, while the real scientists took the time to check out their claims.