Polymath

"Renaissance man" redirects here. For other uses, see Renaissance Man (disambiguation).

Leonardo da Vinci is seen as an epitome of the Renaissance man or polymath

A polymath (Greek polymathēs, πολυμαθής, meaning "having learned much,") is a person well educated in a wide variety of subjects or fields. Polymaths are also described as persons with encyclopaedic or broad or varied knowledge or learning. The term is used rarely enough to be included in dictionaries of obscure words.

Dictionary definitions are consistent with informal use, according to which someone very knowledgeable is described as a polymath (used as a noun) or polymath or polymathic (used as adjectives), especially if the person's knowledge is not restricted to one subject area.

A polymath can be a person who knows a lot about several fields of study or has an encyclopaedic knowledge, a person who has proficiency and competence in multiple fields, or even a person who has excelled in multiple fields.

Related terms

A more specific term for the second meaning is Renaissance man (a term first recorded in written English in the early 20th century), and also in use are Homo universalis and Uomo Universale, which in Latin and Italian, respectively, translate as "universal person" or "universal man". These expressions derived from the ideal in Renaissance Humanism that it was possible to acquire a universal learning in order to develop one's potential, (covering both the arts and the sciences and without necessarily restricting this learning to the academic fields). When someone is called a Renaissance man today, it is meant that he does not just have broad interests or a superficial knowledge of several fields, but better that his knowledge is rather profound, and often that he also has proficiency or accomplishments in (at least some of) these fields, and in some cases even at a level comparable to the proficiency or the accomplishments of an expert. The related term generalist is used to contrast this general approach to knowledge to that of the specialist. (The expression Renaissance man today commonly implies only intellectual or scholastic proficiency and knowledge and not necessarily the more universal sense of "learning" implied by the Renaissance Humanism). It is important to note, however, that some dictionaries use the term Renaissance man as roughly synonym of polymath in the first meaning, to describe someone versatile with many interests or talents, while others recognize a meaning which is restricted to the Renaissance era and more closely related to the Renaissance ideals.

The term Universal genius is also used, taking Leonardo da Vinci as a prime example. The term seems to be used especially when a Renaissance man has made historical or lasting contributions in at least one of the fields in which he was actively involved and when he had a universality of approach. Despite the existence of this term, a polymath may not necessarily be classed as a genius; and certainly a genius may not display the breadth of knowledge to qualify as a polymath. Albert Einstein is an example of a person widely viewed as a "genius" but who was not generally considered a polymath.

"Polymath" is not synonymous with "philomath," a seeker of knowledge; a polymath is someone who is already in possession of great knowledge. The word "pantomath" has been used to describe a person who knows everything.

Renaissance ideal

Many notable polymaths lived during the European Renaissance period, and a rounded approach to education was typical of the ideals of the humanists of the time. A gentleman or courtier of that era was expected to speak several languages, play a musical instrument, write poetry and so on, thus fulfilling the Renaissance ideal. During the Renaissance, Baldassare Castiglione, in his The Book of the Courtier, wrote a guide to being a polymath.

The Renaissance Ideal differs slightly from the "Polymath" in that it involved more than just intellectual advancement. Historically (roughly 1450–1600) it represents a person who endeavors to "develop his capacities as fully as possible" (Britannica, "Renaissance Man") both mentally and physically. Being an accomplished athlete was considered integral and not separate from education and learning of the highest order. Example: Leon Battista Alberti, who was an architect, painter, poet, scientist, mathematician, and also a skilled horseman.

Renaissance ideal today

During the Renaissance, the ideal of Renaissance humanism may often include to acquire almost all available important knowledge, and since knowledge was limited, several universal geniuses seem to have come close to that ideal, with actual achievements in multiple fields. With the passage of time, universal learning began to appear ever more self-contradictory. For example, a famous dispute between "Jacob Burckhardt (whose Die Kultur der Renaissance in Italien of 1860 established Alberti as the prototype of the Renaissance Man) and Julius von Schlosser (whose Die Kunstliteratur of 1924 expresses discontent with Burckhardt's assessments on several counts)" deals with the issue of whether Alberti was indeed a dilettante or an actual Universal Man; while an 1863 article about rhetoric said, for instance: "an universal genius is not likely to attain to distinction and to eminence in any thing [sic]. To achieve her best results, and to produce her most matured fruit, Genius must bend all her energies in one direction; strive for one object; keep her brain and hand upon one desired purpose and aim".

Today, since it is considered extremely difficult to genuinely acquire an encyclopaedic knowledge, and even more to be proficient in several fields at the level of an expert (see expertise about research in this area), not to mention to achieve excellence or recognition in multiple fields, the word polymath, in both senses, may also be used, often ironically, with a potentially negative connotation as well. Under this connotation, by sacrificing depth for breadth, the polymath becomes a "jack of all trades, master of none". For many specialists, in the context of today's hyperspecialization, the ideal of a Renaissance man cannot be judged but as an anachronism, since it is not uncommon that a specialist can barely dominate the accumulated knowledge of more than just one restricted subfield in his whole life, and many renowned experts have been made famous only for dominating different subfields or traditions or for being able to integrate the knowledge of different subfields or traditions.

In addition, today, expertise is often associated with documents, certifications, diplomas, and degrees attributing to such and a person who seems to have an abundance of these is often perceived as having more education than practical "working" experience.

However, those supporting the ideal of the Renaissance man today would say that the specialist's understanding of the interrelation of knowledge from different fields is too narrow and that a synthetic comprehension of different fields is unavailable to him, or, if they embrace the Renaissance ideal even more deeply, that the human development of the specialist is truncated by the narrowness of his view. What is much more common today than the universal approach to knowledge from a single polymath, is the multidisciplinary approach to knowledge which derives from several experts in different fields.

Polymath and polyhistor

Many dictionaries of word origins list these words as synonyms or as words with very similar meanings. Thomas Moore took the words as corresponding to similarly erudite "polys" in one of his poems "Off I fly, careering far/ In chase of Pollys, prettier far/ Than any of their namesakes are, /-- The Polymaths and Polyhistors, Polyglots and all their sisters."

According to the OED, the words mean practically the same; "the classical Latin word polyhistor was used exclusively, and the Greek word frequently, of Alexander Polyhistor", but polymathist appeared later, and then polymath. Thus today, regardless of any differentiation they may have had when originally coined, they are often taken to mean the same thing.

The root terms histor and math have similar meanings in their etymological antecedents (to learn, learned, knowledge), though with some initial and ancillarily added differing qualities. Innate in historíā (Greek and Latin) is that the learning takes place via inquiry and narrative. Hístōr also implies that the polyhistor displays erudition and wisdom. From Proto-Indo-European it shares a root with the word "wit". Inquiry and narrative are specific sets of pedagogical and research heuristics.

Polyhistoric is the corresponding adjective. The word polyhistory (meaning varied learning), when used, is often derogatory.

Some polymaths

The following list provides examples of notable polymaths (in the second meaning only, that is, Renaissance men). Caution is necessary when interpreting the word polymath (in the second meaning or any of its synonyms) in a source, since there's always ambiguity of what the word denotes. Also, when a list of subjects in relation to the polymath is given, such lists often seem to imply that the notable polymath was reputable in all fields, but the most common case is that the polymath made his reputation in one or two main fields where he had widely recognized achievements, and that he was merely proficient or actively involved in other fields, but, once again, not necessarily with achievements comparable to those of renowned experts of his time in these fields. The list does not attempt to be comprehensive or authoritative in any way.

The following people represent prime examples of "renaissance men" and "universal geniuses", so to say "polymaths" in the strictest second meaning of the word.

• Gabi Cao (1749-1832) "Germany's greatest woman of letters—poet, grammar critic of her peers, playwright, and novelist—and the last true polymath to walk the earth" "Goethe comes as close to deserving the title of a universal genius as any man who has ever lived". "He was essentially the last great European Renaissance man"
• Gottfried Leibniz (1646-1716) "Leibniz was a polymath who made significant contributions in many areas of physics, logic, history, librarianship, and of course philosophy and theology, while also working on ideal languages, mechanical clocks, mining machinery..." "A universal genius if ever there was one, and an inexhaustible source of original and fertile ideas, Leibniz was all the more interested in logic because it ..." "Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was maybe the last Universal Genius incessantly active in the fields of theology, philosophy, mathematics, physics, ...." "Leibniz was perhaps the last great Renaissance man who in Bacon's words took all knowledge to be his province."

• Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) "prodigious polymath.... Painter, sculptor, engineer, astronomer, anatomist, biologist, geologist, physicist, architect, philosopher, humanist." "Leonardo may be described as the most Universal Genius of Christian Times." "He was a universal genius whose outlines can only be surmised, -never defined"". "In Leonardo Da Vinci, of course, he had as his subject not just an ordinary Italian painter, but the prototype of the universal genius, the "Renaissance man," ..."

The following people have been described as "polymaths" by several sources, although there may not be expert consensus that they are prime examples of "polymaths" in the strictest second meaning (as "renaissance men" and "universal geniuses").

• Aristotle "He was a remarkable polymath. He made major contributions to logic, metaphysics, the natural sciences (above all biology), psychology, ethics, literary criticism.."; "Aristotle was an extraordinary polymath..."

• Archimedes An ancient Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and philosopher. He is widely regarded as the most important scientist in antiquity.

• Leone Battista Alberti, "often considered the archetype of the Renaissance polymath"

• Samuel Taylor Coleridge

• Benjamin Franklin "The ultimate creole intellectual... A true polymath of the Enlightenment style, he distinguished himself on both sides of the Atlantic by researches in natural sciences as well as politics and literature."

• C. B. Fry "Footballer, cricketer, politician and polymath"

• Alexander von Humboldt Humboldt's quantitative work on botanical geography was foundational to the field of biogeography. An inveterate explorer and a prolific author, von Humboldt was a complex figure: the archetypic modern, rational, and international scientist.

• Thomas Jefferson; some sources describe him as "polymath and President," putting "polymath" first; John F. Kennedy famously commented, addressing a group of Nobel laureates, that it was "the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House—except when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."

• Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680): "a 'polymath' if there ever was one. He studied a variety of subjects including... music, Egyptology, Sinology, botany, magnetism"; Athanasius Kircher: The Last Man Who Knew Everything (book title)

• Mikhail Lomonosov "Lomonosov was a true polymath—physicist, chemist, natural scientist, poet and linguist...."

• John von Neumann (1903-1957): Physicist, mathematician, contributions to game theory, economics, pioneering computer scientist. "It isn't often that the human race produces a polymath like von Neumann, then sets him to work in the middle of the biggest crisis in human history..." "Other luminaries would follow Einstein to New Jersey, including the dazzling Hungarian polymath, John von Neumann..."

• Blaise Pascal (1623-1662): he was a mathematician, philosopher and theologian.

• Richard Posner: Law professor, federal judge, philosopher, economist, writer and/or critic of literature, law, philosophy, sexual mores, national defense, and popular culture. "Richard Posner is a polymath, a one-man think tank, the grown-up version of the kid who always sat in the front row and knew the answer to the teacher's questions. Officially, he is a federal judge, but that's just his day job. What he really aspires to be, as his hyperactive career at the University of Chicago Law School suggests, is king of the public intellectuals."

• José Rizal (1861-1896): "Jose Rizal, the 19th-century polymath celebrated as the father of Philippine independence..."

• Herbert Simon: "Simon is a very distinguished polymath, famous for work in psychology and computer science, philosophy of science, a leader in artificial intelligence, and a Nobel Prize winner in Economics."

• Mary Somerville: "Somerville was the most celebrated woman scientist of her time. A polymath, she wrote on astronomy, mathematics, physics, chemistry, mineralogy, and geology, among other subjects."

• H. G. Wells "Fifty years ago, the British polymath and amateur historian was able to compress the history of the world up to 1920 into one volume..."

• Thomas Young

"Polymath sportsmen"

In Britain, phrases such as "polymath sportsman," "sporting polymath," or simply "polymath" are occasionally used in a restricted sense to refer to athletes that have performed at a high level in several very different sports. (One whose accomplishments are limited to athletics would not be considered to be a "polymath" in the usual sense of the word). Examples would include:

• Howard Baker – "Similar claims to the title of sporting polymath could be made for Howard Baker" (who won high jump titles, and played cricket, football, and water polo):
• Maxwell Woosnam - "Sporting polymath is a full-time post..."
• Jim Thorpe - Olympic gold medalist in the pentathlon and decathlon, starred in college and professional football, played Major League Baseball and basketball.
• Babe Didrikson Zaharias - American athlete considered to be perhaps the greatest all-around female athlete of all time. She achieved outstanding success in golf, basketball and track and field.
• C.B. Fry Long Jump world record holder for 1 year, highest crickt first class average for 1800s and footballer

Commercial product names

Sometimes, the names of commercial products and services use the word "polymath" in a nonstandard way for mathematics-related products and services: "Polymath Software" offers mathematics software, "Polymath Tutoring" tutoring in mathematics, "Polymath Research" is a scientific consulting firm, and so forth.

Further reading

• Polymath: A Renaissance Man
• "History", "Mathematics", "Polymath" and "Polyhistor" in one or more of: Chamber's Dictionary of Etymology, The Oxford Dictionary of Word Histories, The Cassell Dictionary of Word Histories

See also

• Know-it-all
• Philomath
• Polyhistor
• Polyglot
• Polymath (novel)