Polymath

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For the 1994 movie, see Renaissance Man.

A polymath (also known as a polyhistor) is a person who excels in multiple fields, particularly in both arts and sciences. The most common other 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 Man". (NB In Latin homo may be male or female, the Latin word for a male human being vir.)

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. On the other hand "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 to qualify as a polymath. Albert Einstein is a prime example of a person generally regarded as a "genius" who was not a polymath.

Etymological differentiation between Polymath and Polyhistor

Many dictionaries and 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 erudition and wisdom in the polyhistor. From indo-european it shares a root with "wit". Inquiry and narrative are specific sets of pedagogical and research heuristics.

Two conceivable definitions of polymath are the overt 'greatly learned', which would be inclusive of polyhistor (though not all polymaths would be polyhistors, all polyhistors would be polymaths). Another would be that polymath via the adjunct of science from the Greek "mathēmatikè téchnē" implies that the knowledge and learning be specifically about sciences or have been gained through scientific inquiry or more broadly be mathematically-logically based. Science is a somewhat different set of specific research heuristics.

References: "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

• List of polymaths
• Polyhistor
• Polyglot
• There is a Science Fiction novel by John Brunner called Polymath, first published 1974 by DAW Books, based on a shorter story by same author in 1963.da:Polyhistor

de:Polyhistor fr:Polymathe it:Uomo universale nl:Uomo universale nn:Polyhistor fi:Yleisnero sv:Universalgeni zh:文藝復興人