Lots of people were way more important than history books give them credit for. Do you have a favorite?
Mine are Ibn al-Haytham and Mansa Musa. For very different reasons. Ibn al-Haytham basically invented the scientific method. And Mansa Musa was such a baller that he caused inflation when he visited places.
He did a series of lectures aimed at undergraduates that CalTech recorded and made available: https://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/
It’s not “general audience” but you don’t need a doctorate to enjoy them or anything. It’s a Nobel Prize winner explaining something he’s struggling to understand at times so don’t expect to get it all on your first go but he’s about as good a science communicator as you can realistically ask for.