Polymath

"Renaissance man" redirects here. For use as a title of cultural works, see Renaissance Man.

"Universal man" redirects here. For the sculpture by Canadian artist Gerald Gladstone, see Universal Man.

For other uses, see Polymath (disambiguation).

Leonardo da Vinci, a polymath of the Renaissance era.

A polymath (Greek: πολυμαθής, polymathēs, "having learned much") is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas; such a person is known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. The term was first used in the 17th century; the related term, polyhistor, is an ancient term with similar meaning.

The term is often used to describe great thinkers of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment who excelled at several fields in science and the arts. In the Italian Renaissance, the idea of the polymath was expressed by Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472), in the statement that "a man can do all things if he will". Embodying a basic tenet of Renaissance humanism that humans are limitless in their capacity for development, the concept led to the notion that people should embrace all knowledge and develop their capacities as fully as possible. This was expressed in the term "Renaissance man" which is often applied to the gifted people of that age who sought to develop their abilities in all areas of accomplishment: intellectual, artistic, social, and physical. This term entered the lexicon during the twentieth century and has now been applied to great thinkers living before and after the Renaissance.

Renaissance ideal: the Renaissance man

Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī was a notable Persian polymath.

Galileo was one of the most influential polymaths.

"Renaissance man" was first recorded in written English in the early 20th century. It is now used to refer to great thinkers living before, during, or after the Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci has often been described as the archetype of the Renaissance man, a man of "unquenchable curiosity" and "feverishly inventive imagination".

The Islamic Golden Age produced a lot of polymaths, a movement characterized by Ziauddin Sardar as such "...the methods of studying the vast creation of God - from the movement of the stars and planets to the nature of diseases, the sting of an ant, the character of madness, the beauty of justice, the spiritual yearning of humanity, the ecstasy of a mystic - are all equally valid and shape understanding in their respective areas of inquiry. In both its philosophy and methodology, Islam has sought a complete synthesis of science and religion. Polymaths such as al-Biruni, al-Jahiz, al-Kindi, Abu Bakr Muhammad al-Razi, Ibn Sina, al-Idrisi, Ibn Bajja, Omar Khayyam, Ibn Zuhr, Ibn Tufayl, Ibn Rushd, al-Suyuti and thousands of other scholars are not an exception but the general rule in Muslim civilization. The Islamic civilization of the classical period was remarkable for the number of polymaths it produced. This is seen as a testimony to the homogeneity of Islamic philosophy of science and its emphasis on synthesis, interdisciplinary investigations and multiplicity of methods."

Many notable polymaths lived during the Renaissance period, a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th through to the 17th century and that began in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spread to the rest of Europe. These polymaths had a rounded approach to education that reflected 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. The idea of a universal education was essential to achieving polymath ability, hence the word university was used to describe a seat of learning. At this time, universities did not specialize in specific areas but rather trained students in a broad array of science, philosophy, and theology. This universal education gave them a grounding from which they could continue into apprenticeship toward becoming a master of a specific field.

When someone is called a "Renaissance man" today, it is meant that, rather than simply having broad interests or superficial knowledge in several fields, he possesses a more profound knowledge and a proficiency, or even an expertise, in at least some of those fields. Some dictionaries use the term "Renaissance man" to describe someone with many interests or talents, while others give a meaning restricted to the Renaissance and more closely related to Renaissance ideals.

Related terms

Aside from "Renaissance man" as mentioned above, similar terms in use are Homo Universalis (Latin) and Uomo Universale (Italian), which translate to "universal person" or "universal man". The related term generalist—contrasted with a specialist—is used to describe a person with a general approach to knowledge.

Medieval German polymath Hildegard of Bingen, shown dictating to her scribe in an illumination from Liber Scivias.

The term Universal Genius or Versatile Genius is also used, with Leonardo da Vinci as the prime example again. The term seems to be used especially when a person has made lasting contributions in at least one of the fields in which he was actively involved, and when he had a universality of approach.

When a person is described as having "encyclopedic knowledge", he or she exhibits a vast scope of knowledge. This designation may be anachronistic, however, in the case of persons such as Eratosthenes whose reputation for having encyclopedic knowledge predates the existence of any encyclopedic object.

In sports

Main article: List of multi-sport athletes

In Britain, phrases such as "polymath sportsman", "sporting polymath", or simply "polymath" are occasionally used in a restricted sense to refer to athletes who have performed at a high level in several very different sports, rather than to those gifted in many fields of study. One whose accomplishments are limited to athletics would not be considered a "polymath" in the usual sense of the word. An example is Howard Baker, who was called a "sporting polymath" by the Encyclopedia of British Football for winning high jump titles and playing cricket, football, and water polo.

Another individual who falls under this title is Ian Harvey, an Australian cricketer. His complex sporting heroics across football, cricket, and rugby earned the nickname "The Freak".

In medicine

Many polymaths from across the century have their roots in medical applications. One of the more well known polymaths, Leonardo da Vinci, was known for his immense interest in human anatomical structure.

A slightly more recent example would be that of James Lovelock, a PhD in medicine that went on to invent space travel equipment, philosophize on the earth's greater role, and realize the importance of CFCs in ecology.

See also

• Creative class
• Competent man
• Jack of all trades, master of none
• Nexialist
• Opsimath
• Philomath
• Genius
• Polyglotism
• Polymath (novel)
• Polymatheia — a muse of knowledge in Greek mythology
• John Howell (polyartist)

Further reading

• Araki, M. E. (2015). Polymathic Leadership: Theoretical Foundation and Construct Development (Masters Dissertation, PUC-Rio) [2].
• Burns, Peter, "What makes a Renaissance Man?"
• Frost, Martin, "Polymath: A Renaissance Man"
• Grafton, A, 'The World of the Polyhistors: Humanism and Encyclopedism’, Central European History, 18: 31–47. (1985)
• Jaumann, Herbert, "Was ist ein Polyhistor? Gehversuche auf einem verlassenen Terrain," Studia Leibnitiana, 22: 76–89. (1990)
• Mirchandani, Vinnie, The New Polymath: Profiles in Compound-Technology Innovations", John Wiley & Sons. (2010)
• Sher, Barbara, "Refuse to Choose"
• Twigger, Robert, 'Anyone can be a Polymath' [3]
• Waquet, F, (ed.) 'Mapping the World of Learning: The ‘Polyhistor’ of Daniel Georg Morhof' (2000)
• Wiens, Kyle, "In defense of polymaths"

External links

• Last Days of the Polymath – some examples of polymaths, from the Autumn 2009 issue of Intelligent Life