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Polymath

From Encyclopedia Jr, free information reference for Kids

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

A polymath (from the Greek polymathēs, πολυμαθής, meaning "knowing, understanding, or having learnt in quantity," compounded from πολυ- "much, many," and the root μαθ-, meaning "learning, understanding") is a person who excels in multiple fields, particularly in both arts and sciences. The other most common term for this phenomenon is Renaissance man, but also in use are Homo universalis and Uomo universale, which in Latin and Italian, respectively, translate as "universal person" or "universal man".

As informally used in contemporary discussion, a "polymath" is someone known to be skillful or to excel in a broad range of intellectual fields.

"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. Very few people can genuinely be called polymaths.

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[edit] The 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 was also a skilled horseman.

"Polymath" may be applied more strictly, taking Leonardo da Vinci or Goethe as prime examples, and requiring a universality of approach. A polymath may not necessarily be classed as a genius, which is a related classification; 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.

Although it may be a compliment to be called well-rounded, or a Renaissance man, there is a potentially negative connotation as well: by sacrificing depth for breadth, one can become the "jack of all trades, master of none", although da Vinci was considered a master in his fields. Such breadth, of course, makes possible a synthetic comprehension not available to the specialist.

[edit] Etymological differentiation between Polymath and Polyhistor

Many dictionaries of word origins list these words as synonyms. Thus today, regardless of any differentiation they may have had when originally coined, they are often taken to mean the same thing (except when used by specialists).

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.

Here are two conceivable definitions of polymath. First, the overt 'greatly learned,' which would be inclusive of polyhistor (though not all polymaths would be polyhistors, all polyhistors would be polymaths). Another definition would include the adjunct of science, with the Greek mathēmatikè téchnē implying that the knowledge and learning are specifically about sciences or have been gained through scientific inquiry or, more broadly, are based in mathematical logic. Science is a somewhat different set of specific research heuristics.

[edit] Polymaths

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

  • Johann Wolfgang Goethe "Germany's greatest man of letters—poet, critic, playwright, and novelist—and the last true polymath to walk the earth"[1] "Goethe comes as close to deserving the title of a universal genius as any man who has ever lived". [1] "He was essentially the last great European Renaissance man" [2]
  • Gottfried Leibniz "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..."[2] "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 ..." [3] "Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was maybe the last Universal Genius incessantly active in the fields of theology, philosophy, mathematics, physics, ...." [4] "Leibniz was perhaps the last great Renaissance man who in Bacon's words took all knowledge to be his province."[5]
  • Leonardo da Vinci[3] "prodigious polymath.... Painter, sculptor, engineer, astronomer, anatomist, biologist, geologist, physicist, architect, philosopher, humanist."[4] "Leonardo may be described as the most Universal Genius of Christian Times." [6] "He was a univeral genius whose outlines can only be surmised, -never defined"". [7] "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 a stricter sense (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..."[5]; "Aristotle was an extraordinary polymath..."[6]
  • Leone Battista Alberti, "often considered the archetype of the Renaissance polymath"[7]
  • Samuel Taylor Coleridge[8]
  • 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."[9]
  • C. B. Fry "Footballer, cricketer, politician and polymath"[10]
  • Alexander von Humboldt[11]
  • Thomas Jefferson; some sources describe him as "polymath and President," putting "polymath" first;[12] 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."[13]
  • Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680): "a 'polymath' if there ever was one. He studied a variety of subjects including... music, Egyptology, Sinology, botany, magnetism."[14]; Athanasius Kircher: The Last Man Who Knew Everything (book title)[15]
  • Mikhail Lomonosov "Lomonosov was a true polymath—physicist, chemist, natural scientist, poet and linguist...."[16]
  • José Rizal (1861-1896): "Jose Rizal, the 19th-century polymath celebrated as the father of Philippine independence..."[18]
  • 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."[19]
  • 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..."[20]

[edit] "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): [21]
  • Maxwell Woosnam - "Sporting polymath is a full-time post..."[22]
  • Lionel Conacher

[edit] Nonstandard usage in 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. [23]

[edit] See also

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


 Topics in alternative education   (Portal)  

Autodidacticism · Education reform · Gifted education · Homeschooling · Polymath · Religious education · Special education · More...

[edit] References and notes

  • "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
  1. ^ Eliot, George [1871] (2004). Gregory Maertz (ed.) Middlemarch. Broadview Press. ISBN 1-55111-233-7. Note by editor of 2004 edition, Gregory Maertz, p. 710
  2. ^ Shand, John (2006). Central Works of Philosophy, Volume 2: Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century. McGill-Queen's Press. ISBN 0773530185., ch. 3, "G. W. Leibnitz: Monadology," by Douglas Burnham; p. 61
  3. ^ Elmer, Peter, Nicholas Webb, Roberta Wood (2000). The Renaissance in Europe: An Anthology. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-08222-3. "The following selection... shows why this famous Renaissance polymath considered painting to be a science..."p. 180
  4. ^ Johnston, Robert K., J Walker Smith (2003). Life Is Not Work, Work Is Not Life: Simple Reminders for Finding Balance in a 24-7 World. Council Oak Books. ISBN 1-885171-54-4. "...the prodigious polymath of the Italian Renaissance. Painter, sculptor, engineer, astronomer, anatomist, biologist, geologist, physicist, architect, philosopher, humanist."p. 1
  5. ^ Moore, A. W. (2001). The Infinite. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-25285-7. p. 34
  6. ^ Heater, Derek (2004). A Brief History Of Citizenship. New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-3672-6., "Aristotle was an extraordinary polymath, although only two of his great range of works, which were probably in origin lectures, interest us here."p. 16
  7. ^ Brand, Peter, Lino Pertile (1999). The Cambridge History of Italian Literature. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-66622-8. "Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472), more versatile than Bruni, is often considered the archetype of the Renaissance polymath." p. 138
  8. ^ Newsome, David (1999). The Victorian World Picture. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-8135-2758-9. "Coleridge was unquestionably a polymath, with a universal knowledge unequalled by any thinker of his day." p. 259
  9. ^ Jehlen, Myra, Michael Warner (1997). The English Literatures of America, 1500-1800. Routledge. ISBN 0415908736. p. 667
  10. ^ Steer, Duncan (2003). Cricket: The Golden Age. Cassell illustrated. ISBN 1-64403-237-K. "Footballer, cricketer, politician and polymath C.B. Fry, now commander of a Royal Navy training ship" p.51
  11. ^ Holloway, Sarah, Stephen Rice, Gill Valentine (2003). Key Concepts in Geography. Sage Publications, Inc.. ISBN 0-7619-7389-3. "The new Enlightment geography was probably best exemplified by Alexander von Humboldt, the Prussian polymath.... An inveterate explorer and a prolific author, von Humboldt was a complex figure: the archetypic modern, rational, and international scientist, his ideas were also shaped by the flowering of European romanticism and German classicism." p. 27
  12. ^ Kennedy, Barbara A. (2006). Inventing the Earth: Ideas on Landscape Development Since 1740. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 1-4051-0187-3. "Jefferson, Thomas (1743-1826). Polymath and third President of the USA."p. 132
  13. ^ Rees, Nigel (2003). Cassell's Humorous Quotations. Sterling Publishing Company. ISBN 0-304-36588-2. p. 392. Note that Jefferson is identified as "American Polymath and President."
  14. ^ Barfield, Owen A. (1999). A Barfield Reader. Wesleyan University Press., p. 47
  15. ^ Findlen (ed), Paula (2004). Athanasius Kircher: The Last Man Who Knew Everything. Routledge (U. K.). ISBN 0415940168., p. 209: "the Jesuit polymath Athanasius Kircher"
  16. ^ Chorley, Richard J., Robert P Beckinsale (1991). The History of the Study of Landforms Or the Development of Geomorphology. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-05626- 8.: "Lomonosov was a true polymath—physicist, chemist, natural scientist, poet and linguist...."p. 169
  17. ^ Euronet website
  18. ^ Steve Trautlein (2002-12-06). Work hard, play hard (review of Double Lives by David Heenan). Japan Today. Retrieved on 2006-10-25.
  19. ^ Brown, James Robert (1999). Philosophy of Mathematics: An Introduction to a World of Proofs and Pictures. Routledge. ISBN 0415122759., p. 51
  20. ^ Whitman, Alden (1972): "A World History by 42 Professors," The New York Times, July 18, 1972, p. 23: "Fifty years ago, the British polymath and amateur historian was able to compress the history of the world up to 1920 into one volume of 1171 pages weighing 3 pounds 3 ounces.... Now a somewhat similar book, concededly inspired by Well's, has been published. It is the work not of one man, but of 42."
  21. ^ Cox, Richard (2002). Encyclopedia of British Football. Routledge. ISBN 0-7146-5249-0. p. 15
  22. ^ Brian Viner (2006-10-12). Sporting polymath is a full-time post for which only obsessives need apply: It is hard to get the head round the idea that one man excelled in so many sports. The Independent. Retrieved on 2006-10-12.: "I read a book by Mick Collins called All-Round Genius: The Unknown Story of Britain's Greatest Sportsman. It is about a man called Max Woosnam, who...toured Brazil with the famous Corinthians football team in 1913... won an Olympic gold medal for tennis, played golf off scratch, scored a century at Lord's, and made a 147 break on the snooker table."
  23. ^ Polymath Software, Polymath Research, Polymath Tutoring

[edit] Further reading


Citation Help

APA Style: Reference List

Encyclopedia Jr (2007). Polymath. Retrieved May 27, 2012, from http://www.encyclopediajr.com/wikiarticle/p/o/l/polymath.

MLA Style: Works Cited Page

"Polymath." Encyclopedia Jr. 2007. 27 May 2012 <http://www.encyclopediajr.com/wikiarticle/p/o/l/polymath>.


This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article polymath.


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