A polymath is a person with expert-level proficiency in many fields. The etymology of the word is Greek; the literal meaning is “having learned much”. Despite the suffix “math”, the word has nothing to do with mathematics. Many people associate polymaths with the term “Renaissance Man”, since the prevailing attitude of the Renaissance held that one could not realize his full human potential without acquiring a broad spectrum of knowledge. This philosophy is known as Renaissance Humanism, and history's most famous polymaths, such as Leonardo da Vinci, tended to live in that era. However, the Renaissance ideal also held individuals to breadth in athletic, naturalist, and other pursuits that are not necessarily academic in nature.
It is difficult to define exactly what makes one a polymath. Some thinkers who were only particularly accomplished in one field, such as Einstein, are called polymaths, while others, such as Newton, are considered polymaths even though they worked only in a few intertwined fields, such as physics and mathematics. Still others, such as Goethe, Franklin, and Jefferson spread their proficiency across diverse and often unrelated fields. It is thus important to note that simply being called a polymath does not necessarily imply the extreme proficiency in many fields that the word seems to suggest - the word was applied to practically every genius, no matter how specialized, at one time or another. Moreover, even polymaths typically had a specialized proficiency above and beyond their considerable proficiency in other fields: for da Vinci, this was painting, while for Goethe, it was writing. Thus, one should decide for oneself what the criteria are and who satisfies them.
People often tend to assume that any particular polymath is the “last” person capable of obtaining the title, thus there are ironically many thinkers who are claimed to be "the last universalist". Such thinkers include Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (1646-1716), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855), Henri Poincaré (1854-1912), and, recently (in two separate books both written in the 21st century and both audaciously called “The Last Man Who Knew Everything”), Athanasius Kircher (circa 1601-1680) and Thomas Young (1773-1829). These are only a few examples; many more can be found. Thus, while people tend to think that the changing nature of study continually prohibits such an approach, their predictions, as seems to happen to most that assume limitations on human endeavor, are constantly being proven wrong.
The current trend in society is towards hyperspecialization, and in some circles, the word polymath has even taken on a negative connotation, as many believe that acquiring breadth necessitates a sacrifice of depth in one's primary field by definition. Though doubtless it does to certain people, the lives of those such as da Vinci and Aristotle offer counterexamples to this claim. In the opinion of the author, we see fewer polymaths now not because the knowledge we must obtain to make discoveries is deeper, but because of the dominance of this negative attitude towards obtaining broad knowledge. Modern polymaths do still exist, however: Isaac Asimov (1920-1992), Douglas Hofstadter (1945- ), and Herbert Simon (1916-2001) are generally regarded as modern polymaths.
It is difficult to say exactly what makes some people capable of being polymaths. Examination of the lives of historical polymaths suggests a common factor of intuitive, rather than purely logical, thought. This is possibly because logic deduces new facts from known facts in a linear fashion that is highly specific to the domain of knowledge in which it is conducted, while intuition represents a highly nonlinear generation of universally-applicable ideas. Moreover, intuition can be applied in fields where logic alone fails, such as the arts and humanities - necessary forays for someone who is truly worthy of the title.
Other “polys” include polyglots (“many tongues”) and polyhistors (“knowing much”). Polyglots are those who exhibit proficiency in many languages. Polyhistor is sometimes used as a synonym for polymath, but is also less commonly used to denote one with a wide breadth of knowledge who does not necessarily have the insight or accomplishment in many fields commonly associated with polymaths. An additional related term is philomath (“lover of learning”). A philomath is essentially someone with the potential to become a polymath: one with an interest in learning, often in a wide range of fields.
Throughout history, polymaths have given society some of its greatest accomplishments. Moreover, on an individual level, polymaths have made full use of their innate talents in a manner that is inaccessible to a specialist. Thus, it is a useful thing to cultivate polymaths by providing a means for their education. The remaining sections of this website are devoted to this idea.
