Does Joseph Campbell's advice work for the natural sciences? This article quotes famous mythologist Joseph Campbell as saying:

"Reading what you want, and having one book lead to the next, is the way I found my discipline. I’ve suggested this to many of my students: When you find a writer who really is saying something to you, read everything that writer has written and you will get more education and depth of understanding out of that than reading a scrap here and a scrap there and elsewhere. Then go to people who influenced that writer, or those who were related to him, and your world builds together in an organic way that is really marvelous."

Based on my limited experience with computer science and economics, my guess is that the answer is no, but I was wondering if this strategy might work in Biology or some other discipline?
While this might be a strategy, I think it would be a mistake if it were your only strategy. Normally a lot of people contribute to a discipline and each of them have slightly different insights and thoughts to bring to bear. Even though you want to delve deeply into the topic of interest, it is likely a mistake to get too closely involved with the thought processes of that one person, unless they are the subject of study itself. 

Interesting idea, though. But I wouldn't use it extensively. 

However, going back to the influences on a researcher can be fruitful, especially if it gives you insight in to their insight. 

I think the fields that are overwhelmingly interested by one person are rare, though there are a few. Stephen Hawking comes to mind, of course.