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Polymath

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"Universal man" redirects here. For the sculpture by Canadian artist Gerald Gladstone, see Universal Man.
"Polyhistor" redirects here. For the Roman author and book also known as Polyhistor, see Solinus. For the ancient Greek scholar, see Alexander Polyhistor.
For other uses, see Polymath (disambiguation).

Portrait of Benjamin Franklin by David Martin, 1767. Benjamin Franklin is one of the foremost polymaths in American history. Franklin was a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer and political philosopher. He further attained a legacy as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.

A polymath[a][1] or polyhistor[b][2] is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Polymaths often prefer a specific context in which to explain their knowledge, but some are gifted at explaining abstractly and creatively.[3]

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 is expressed in the term Renaissance man, often applied to the gifted people of that age who sought to develop their abilities in all areas of accomplishment: intellectual, artistic, social, physical, and spiritual.

Etymology

The word polymath derives from the Greek roots poly-, which means "much" or "many," and manthanein, which means "to learn."[4] Plutarch wrote that the Ancient Greek muse Polyhymnia was sometimes known as Polymatheia, describing her as responsible for "that faculty of the soul which inclines to attain and keep knowledge."[5]

In Western Europe, the first work to use the term polymathy in its title, De Polymathia tractatio: integri operis de studiis veterum (A Treatise on Polymathy: The Complete Work on the Studies of the Ancients), was published in 1603 by Johann von Wowern, a Hamburg philosopher.[6][7][8] Von Wowern defined polymathy as "knowledge of various matters, drawn from all kinds of studies ... ranging freely through all the fields of the disciplines, as far as the human mind, with unwearied industry, is able to pursue them".[6] Von Wowern lists erudition, literature, philology, philomathy, and polyhistory as synonyms.

The earliest recorded use of the term in the English language is from 1624, in the second edition of The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton;[9] the form polymathist is slightly older, first appearing in the Diatribae upon the first part of the late History of Tithes of Richard Montagu in 1621.[10] Use in English of the similar term polyhistor dates from the late 16th century.[11]

Renaissance man

"Renaissance man" redirects here. For use as a title of cultural works, see Renaissance Man.
Portrait of Sir Christopher Wren by Godfrey Kneller, 1711. Best known as an architect, Christopher Wren was also an astronomer, mathematician and physicist

The term "Renaissance man" was first recorded in written English in the early 20th century.[12] It is 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".[13] Many notable polymaths[c] lived during the Renaissance period, a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th through to the 17th century 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. However, the original Latin word universitas refers in general to "a number of persons associated into one body, a society, company, community, guild, corporation, etc".[14] 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, the individual possesses a more profound knowledge and a proficiency, or even an expertise, in at least some of those fields.[15] Some dictionaries use the term "Renaissance man" to describe someone with many interests or talents,[16] while others give a meaning restricted to the Renaissance and more closely related to Renaissance ideals.

Examples

Further information: List of Renaissance figures

Polymaths include the scholars and thinkers of the Renaissance and Enlightenment, who excelled at several fields in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and the arts. In the Italian Renaissance, the idea of the polymath was allegedly expressed by Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472), a polymath himself, in the statement that "a man can do all things if he will".[17] Leonardo da Vinci is often used as the archetypal example of a polymath.[13]

Many polymaths didn't identify as such, since the term was first coined in the 17th century; they were instead described as polymaths by later historians.[6] This includes several philosophers of Ancient Greece and the Islamic Golden Age. Whether or not a person is a polymath is often a subject of debate because of the term's broad definition by nature.

Well-known polymaths include:

Aside from Renaissance man, similar terms in use are homo universalis (Latin) and uomo universale (Italian), which translate to 'universal man'.[1] The related term generalist—contrasted with a specialist—is used to describe a person with a general approach to knowledge.

The term universal genius or versatile genius is also used, with Leonardo da Vinci as the prime example again. The term is used especially for people who made lasting contributions in at least one of the fields in which they were actively involved and when they took a universality of approach.

When a person is described as having encyclopedic knowledge, they exhibit a vast scope of knowledge. However, this designation may be anachronistic in the case of persons such as Eratosthenes, whose reputation for having encyclopedic knowledge predates the existence of any encyclopedic object.

See also

References and notes

  1. ^ (Greek: πολυμαθής, romanized: polymathēs, lit. 'having learned much'; Latin: homo universalis, lit. 'universal human')
  2. ^ (Greek: πολυΐστωρ, romanized: polyīstor, lit. 'well-learned')
  3. ^ Though numerous figures in history could be considered to be polymaths, they are not listed here, as they are not only too numerous to list, but also as the definition of any one figure as a polymath is disputable, due to the term's loosely-defined nature, there being no given set of characteristics outside of a person having a wide range of learning across a number of different disciplines; many also did not identify as polymaths, the term having only come into existence in the early 17th century.
  1. ^ a b "Ask The Philosopher: Tim Soutphommasane – The quest for renaissance man". The Australian. 10 April 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  2. ^ "Polyhistor". The Free Dictionary.
  3. ^ Kaufman, J. C., & Beghetto, R. A. (2009). Beyond big and little: The four c model of creativity. Review of general psychology, 13(1), 1-12.
  4. ^ "Etymology of "polymath" by etymonline". etymonline. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
  5. ^ Plutarch. "Plutarch, Quaestiones Convivales, Book 9., chapter 14, section 7". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
  6. ^ a b c Murphy, Kathryn (2014). "Robert Burton and the problems of polymathy". Renaissance Studies. 28 (2): 279. doi:10.1111/rest.12054. S2CID 162763342. Archived from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  7. ^ Burke, Peter (2011). "O polímata: a história cultural e social de um tipo intellectual". Leitura: Teoria & Prática. ISSN 0102-387X.
  8. ^ Wower, Johann (1665). De Polymathia tractatio: integri operis de studiis veterum.
  9. ^ "polymath, n. and adj. Archived 8 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine". OED Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Accessed December 2019.
  10. ^ "polymathist, n.". OED Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Accessed December 2019.
  11. ^ "polyhistor, n.". OED Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Accessed December 2019.
  12. ^ Harper, Daniel (2001). "Online Etymology Dictionary". Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 5 December 2006.
  13. ^ a b Gardner, Helen (1970). Art through the Ages. New York, Harcourt, Brace & World. pp. 450–456. ISBN 9780155037526.
  14. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1966) [1879], A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  15. ^ "Renaissance man — Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary". M-w.com. Archived from the original on 18 May 2006. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  16. ^ "Oxford concise dictionary". Askoxford.com. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  17. ^ "Renaissance man – Definition, Characteristics, & Examples". Archived from the original on 3 May 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2012.

Further reading

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