"Early to Bed and Early to Rise" Killed Descartes

Well, I'm not sure if "early to bed" played a part, but the "early to rise" bit did in one of the great and early scientific minds of the 17th century, Rene Descartes (René Descartes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

Descartes, who among other things hit upon the idea of using coordinates along x,y, and z axes to describe three-dimensional space (we still call them Cartesian coordinates), was invited to join the circle of intellectuals at the court of Queen Christina of Sweden in 1649. Unbeknownst to Descartes before he arrived in Stockholm, the Queen expected him provide personal lessons at 5 a.m. each morning. Descartes' hated early-rising and loved his creature comforts, but the Queen was the queen. He arrived in October 1649 and was dead by February 1650 at the age of 53. see Descartes at the Oregon State University web site.

Queen Christina of Sweden by Torrey Philemon, Tracy Marks The Queen was played by Great Garbo in the 1933 film!

Ben Franklin didn't even follow his own aphorism anyway, especially in his years as American minister to France. Ben Franklin: The Man of Sense

Descartes is just one the scientists included in the history of science The Scientists: A History of Science Told Through the Lives of Its Greatest Inventors by John Gribbin.