Polymath
Renaissance man redirects here. For the 1994 movie, see Renaissance Man.A
polymath (from Greek "polys" (πολύς) meaning "much", "many" or, great in quantity; and "mathese" (μάθηση) meaning "learning") 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".
Informally used in contemporary discussion, a polymath is someone known to be skillful or excel in a broad range of intellectual fields.
Polymath is not synonymous with
philomath, which is a seeker of knowledge; a polymath is someone already in possession of great knowledge.
Few people can genuinely be called a polymath. Even fewer can be called a
Pantomath (from the Greek "panto" meaning all). A pantomath, is a person whose astonishingly wide interests and knowledge span the entire range of the arts and sciences.
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,
Thomas Jefferson 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, though ofttimes better than master of one" although da Vinci was considered a master in his fields. Such breadth, of course, makes possible a synthetic comprehension not available to the specialist.
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. Firstly, 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
math"matikè téchn" implying that the knowledge and learning are specifically about sciences or have been gained through scientific inquiry or, more broadly, be based in mathematical logic. Science is a somewhat different set of specific research heuristics.
*
Leon Battista Alberti, "often considered the archetype of the Renaissance polymath"
[ "Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472), more versatile than Bruni, is often considered the archetype of the Renaissance polymath." p. 138]*
Aristotle "He was a remarkable polymath. He made major contributions to logic, metaphysics, the natural sciences (above all biology), psychology, ethics, literary criticism..."
[ p. 34]; "Aristotle was an extraordinary polymath..."
[, "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]*
Samuel Taylor Coleridge[ "Coleridge was unquestionably a polymath, with a universal knowledge unequalled by any thinker of his day." p. 259]*
Benjamin Franklin*
C. B. Fry "Footballer, cricketer, politician and polymath"
[ "Footballer, cricketer, politician and polymath C.B. Fry, now commander of a Royal Navy training ship" p.51]*
Johann Wolfgang Goethe*
Alexander von Humboldt[ "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]*
Thomas Jefferson; some sources describe him as "polymath and President," putting "polymath" first;
[ "Jefferson, Thomas (1743-1826). Polymath and third President of the USA."p. 132] 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."
[ p. 392. Note that Jefferson is identified as "American Polymath and President."]*
Gottfried Leibniz*
Mikhail Lomonosov "Lomonosov was a true polymath—physicist, chemist, natural scientist, poet and linguist...."
[: "Lomonosov was a true polymath—physicist, chemist, natural scientist, poet and linguist...."p. 169]*
Leonardo da Vinci[ "The following selection... shows why this famous Renaissance polymath considered painting to be a science..."p. 180] "prodigious polymath.... Painter, sculptor, engineer, astronomer, anatomist, biologist, geologist, physicist, architect, philosopher, humanist."
[ "...the prodigious polymath of the Italian Renaissance. Painter, sculptor, engineer, astronomer, anatomist, biologist, geologist, physicist, architect, philosopher, humanist."p. 1]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):
[ p. 15]*
Know-it-all*
List of polymaths*
Philomath*
Polyhistor*
Polyglot* There is a
science fiction novel by
John Brunner called
Polymath, first published in
1974 by
DAW Books, based on a shorter story by the same author written in
1963. In this book, a ship filled with refugees from a cosmic catastrophe crash-landed on an unmapped world, face that their outlook was precarious; their ship was lost, salvage had been minor, and everything came to depend on one bright young man accidentally among them. He was a trainee planet-builder - a polymath. It would have been his job to foresee all the problems necessary to set up a safe home for humanity. But the problem was that he was a mere student - and that he had been studying the wrong planet.
"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*
Polymath: A Renaissance Man
