User:The Polymath/Sandbox2

The following is a list related to the article, "Polymath." Polymaths are individuals who are noted for excelling in multiple fields or disciplines. A term often used in common parlance is "Renaissance Man," but this term is misleading as most polymaths did not live in the Renaissance and several were women. The term "polymath" is often used to describe those who excelled in both the arts and sciences. Many highly accomplished people were not polymaths, as they worked solely in one field. Also, the "math" segment of the term does not relate to whether the person has any connection to mathematics.

People with the widest range of knowledge are known as polyhistors (example Gottfried Leibniz).

Ancient and mediæval

Al-Farabi -- mathematician, philosopher, musician, contributions in medicine
Albertus Magnus -- alchemy, botany, mathematics, music theory, scholasticism, theology, and zoology
Archimedes -- mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, physicist and engineer
Aristotle -- philosopher, physicist, poet, zoologist, and biologist
Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius -- contributions in mathematics, music, philosophy, and politics
Avicenna -- physician, philosopher, and scientist
Averroës -- physician, mathematician, Islamic law
Chanakya -- politician, economist, philosopher, scholar
Eratosthenes -- Astronomer, geographer, mathematician, philosopher
Roger Bacon -- mathematician, alchemist, philosopher, scientist
Bede -- science, history, translation, literature, and theology
Biruni -- greatest contributions in mathematics, philosophy, medicine and science.
Abbas Ibn Firnas -- chemist, inventor, astronomer, physicist
Ge Hong -- philosopher, poet, alchemist, and biographer
Hildegard of Bingen -- contributions in theology, musical composition, medicine, botany, and constructed language
Hypatia -- mathematician, philosopher, and teacher
Imhotep -- poet, astronomer, mathematician, physician, architect, and artist
Julius Caesar -- general, politician, legislator, orator, author, engineer, priest
Omar Khayyam -- poet, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher
Maimonides -- physician, rabbi, astronomer and philosopher
Nicolas Oresme -- economist, mathematician, physicist, theologian, translator, and musicologist
Ouyang Xiu -- statesman, historian, essayist, and poet
Plato -- Philosopher, poet, political theorist, mathematician, wrestler, educator
Michael Psellus -- historian, philosopher, philologist, scientist, and poet.
Ptolemy -- geographer, astronomer, and astrologer
Pythagoras -- mathematician and philosopher
Abu Bakr Mohammad Ibn Zakariya al-Razi, Razi or Rhazes -- physician, chemist and philosopher
Shen Kua -- mathematician, engineer, general, and geologist
Wang Anshi -- economist, statesman, and poet
Wang Wei -- poet, musician, painter, and statesman
Zhang Heng -- poet, astronomer, mathematician, inventor, and artist

Renaissance

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa -- magician, theologian, soldier, legal expert, astronomer, alchemist, and writer
Leone Battista Alberti -- painter, poet, philosopher, cryptographer, musician and architect
Francis Bacon -- philosopher, statesman, spy, essayist
Caspar Bartholin the Elder -- anatomy, theology, medicine, oration
Menasseh ben Israel -- rabbi, scholar, diplomat, and printer/publisher
Rudjer Boskovic -- contributions in mathematics. physics, philosophy
Sir Thomas Browne -- physician, philosopher, literature, medicine, religion, science
Jan Brożek — mathematician, physician, astronomer, first biographer of Copernicus.
Gerolamo Cardano -- mathematician, physician, natural philosopher, astrologer, inventor, cryptographer, gambler, chess player.
Nicolaus Copernicus -- astronomer, mathematician, economist, physician, lawyer, cleric, administrator, military leader, classics scholar.
James Crichton -- fencer, soldier, musician, polyglot, and debater
John Dee -- mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, occultist
Albrecht Dürer -- printer, painter, geometry, fortification, and mathematician
Desiderius Erasmus -- theologian, paedagogue, linguist & philologist, historian, exegete
Stjepan Gradić -- philosopher, scientist and mathematician
Huang Zongxi -- political theorist, philosopher, and soldier (China was not in a Renaissance, but he fits here chronologically)
Athanasius Kircher -- egyptology, geology, and music theory
Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz -- ecclesiastical administrator, mathematician, engineer, inventor, linguist, theologian, moralist
Girolamo Maggi -- scholar, jurist, poet, mathematician, military engineer, urban planner and naturalist
Nostradamus -- poet, doctor, sculptor, prophet
Garcia de Orta -- physician, botanist, natural philosopher, artist, politician
William Petty -- scientist, entrepreneur, physician, and philosopher
Christine de Pisan -- biographer, moralist, poet, proto-feminist thinker
Giambattista della Porta -- cryptographer, botanist, astronomer, writer
Leonardo da Vinci -- engineer, physician, painter, inventor, architect, musician, composer, astrologer, alchemist
Faust Vrančić -- lexicographer, philosopher, inventor. historian
Theodor Zwinger -- doctor, ethicist, linguist

Enlightenment and early post-Enlightenment

A to J

Pierre Beaumarchais -- watch-maker, inventor, author, musician, politician, , spy, publisher, arms-dealer, and revolutionary
Jeremy Bentham -- jurist, inventor, philosopher, mathematician, economist, and political commentator
Henry Brougham -- Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain who did work on porism(math), theology, and other areas.
Sir Richard Francis Burton -- explorer, linguist, anthropologist, diplomat and swordsman
Sir George Cayley -- naturalist, physical scientist, engineer, inventor and politician
Émilie du Châtelet -- physicist, mathematician, author, translator, singer
Anton Chekov -- physician,author
Temple Chevallier -- astronomy, meteorology, math, translation, theology
Erasmus Darwin -- physician, inventor, botanist, and poet
René Descartes -- mathematician, neuroscience, and philosophy
Liu E -- writer, musician, physician and entrepreneur
Leonhard Euler -- mathematician, physicist, economist, music theory
Benjamin Franklin -- politician, physicist, entrepreneur, printer, inventor, musician, diplomat and writer.
C.B. Fry -- cricketer, rugby player, athlete, football player, politician, writer/publisher, educator
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe -- novelist, poet, philosopher, scientist, mineralogist, essayist, literary critic
Alexander Hamilton -- political theorist, statesman, soldier, polemicist
G. W. F. Hegel -- philosopher, historian, art theorist, theologian, jurist
Thomas Hobbes -- political theorist, historian, optical scientist, translator, classicist
E.T.A. Hoffmann -- novelist, judge, composer, conductor, pianist, caricaturist, scenic designer
Robert Hooke -- experimental scientist, natural philosopher, biologist, physicist, architect, inventor
Alexander von Humboldt -- ethnographer, anthropologist, physicist, geologist, mineralogist, botanist, vulcanologist, geographer, climatologist, explorer and oceanographer
James Hutton -- physician, chemist, physicist, botanist, philosopher, linguist, geologist, farmer
Christiaan Huygens -- natural philosopher, horologist, astronomer, mathematician, inventor
Charles Thomas Jackson -- geologist, chemist, physicist, physician, inventor
Thomas Jefferson -- politician, statesman, architect, cryptographer, agriculturist, archaeologist, writer.

K to S

Gottfried Leibniz -- philosopher, mathematician, logician, scientist, engineer, historian, lawyer, diplomat, librarian, philologist, theologian, poet
Samuel Morse -- artist, politician, inventor, educator, cryptographer
John Muir -- environmentalist, inventor, engineer, and geologist.
Sir Isaac Newton -- mathematician, physicist, alchemist, theologian, economist, historian, inventor
Blaise Pascal -- mathematician, physicist, theologian, philosopher (logic, probability, and ethics)
Charles Willson Peale -- artist, naturalist, inventor, author
Charles Peirce -- philosopher, logician, mathematician, semiotician, geodesist,
José Rizal -- artist, educator, linguist, naturalist, physician, social scientist
Adam Smith -- jurist, (founding) economist, psychologist, historian, theologian, literary critic
Stanisław Staszic -- philosopher, statesman, geologist, poet, priest, and writer
Howard Staunton -- chess writer and world chess champion, actor, Shakespearean scholar, educationalist
Rudolf Steiner -- philosopher, literary scholar, architect, playwright, educator, social thinker, mystic

T to Z

James John Garth Wilkinson -- poet, philologist, doctor, philosopher
Thomas Young -- prodigy, physicist, physician, linguist, egyptologist
William Whewell -- philosopher, theologian, historian, scientist
Christopher Wren -- architect, astronomer and mathematician

Contemporary

A to D

Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) -- author or editor of over 400 books on a wide-range of subjects (in every major Dewey Decimal Classification except philosophy), association president (American Humanist Association), biochemist, club chairman, essayist, humanist, limericist, literary award winner (Hugo Award, Nebula Award), literary critic, magazine editor, lecturer, neologist, novelist (master of the science-fiction genre, and one of the "Big Three" of the golden age of science fiction), PhD, professor, public speaker, scholar, famed short story writer (I, Robot, and many others). Known as the "Great Explainer," and was virtually a mascot for Mensa.
Nicholas Murray Butler (1862-1947) -- academy president (American Academy of Arts and Letters), association president (Pilgrims Society), author, chief editor (Educational Review), conference chairman (Lake Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration), dean, educator (President of Columbia University), fund raiser, international diplomat, lecturer, Nobel laureate (Nobel Peace Prize), NPO president and trustee (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace), PhD, philanthropist, philosopher, politician (recurrent Republican National Convention delegate, U.S. vice presidential candidate), professor, public speaker, publisher, scholar. Referred to as "The last man who knew everything" and by the epithet "Nicholas Miraculous".
Otto Maria Carpeaux -- literary critic, chemist, mathematician, musicologist, political writer, screenplayer, essayist, physician, sociologist, historian
Kenneth E. Boulding -- economist, educator, poet, religious mystic, systems scientist, and interdisciplinary philosopher
George Washington Carver -- botanist, musician, artist, orator, athletic trainer and student leader
Nirad C. Chaudhuri -- historian, cultural critic, scholar of Victorian literature and art, travelogue writer, polyglot and interpreter of Eastern and Western philosophy, culture and society, connoisseur of Western Classical music, Western food and over 500 varieties of wine and strict practitioner of Victorian etiquette and dress code
Winston Churchill -- politician, journalist, author, historian, soldier, painter
A.J.Cronin --physician, author
Jared Diamond -- evolutionary biologist, physiologist, biogeographer and nonfiction author, conservationist, speaks a dozen languages

E to K

Thomas Alva Edison (1874 -1931) -- prolific inventor, chemist, engineer, entrepreneur, freethinker, genius, industrialist, industrial researcher, major patent holder (1,097 in the U.S. alone), film producer, monopolist, music producer (phonographs), publisher (co-founded Science), scientist, technologist, visionary. Known as the "Wizard of Menlo Park".
Richard Feynman -- physicist, mathematician, musician, lecturer, Nobel laureate (1965, Physics), aerospace accident investigator (Challenger disaster), PhD, practical joker, professor, writer, safe-cracker. Like Isaac Asimov, earned the informal title "The Great Explainer".
Moshé Feldenkrais -- engineer, physicist, judo expert, physical therapist
Francis Galton -- anthropologist, eugenicist, tropical explorer, geographer, inventor, meteorologist, proto-geneticist, psychometrician, statistician
Buckminster Fuller -- designer, metal-tradesman, architect, inventor, mathematician, spaceship earth theoretician
Murray Gell-Mann -- prodigy, professor of physics, international advisor on the environment, authority on the origin of languages, arms control and foreign relations, Nobel Prize winner
Hossein Gol-e-Golab -- botanist, musician, poet, translator; earned degrees in law & political science, but never practiced law
Piet Hein -- scientist, mathematician, inventor, author, poet, philosopher
Douglas Hofstadter -- author, cognitive scientist, composer, literary award winner (Pulitzer Prize), computer programmer, poet, PhD, philosopher, physicist, professor
Howard Hughes -- aviation pioneer, billionaire, engineer, entrepreneur, film producer, industrialist, inventor, pilot, real estate tycoon
William James -- (founding) psychologist, medical scholar, philosopher
William Stanley Jevons -- economist, logician, scientific methodology, (19th c.) computing engineer
Ashoka Jahnavi-Prasad --physician,earned degree in law from Harvard,engineering from Sheffield,elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
Alexandre Kojeve -- philosopher, jurist, politician, intellectual historian
David J. Krause -- engineer, deep sea diver, mathematician, rocket scientist, builder, designer, philosopher, futurist, musician, artist
Raymond Kurzweil -- author, electronic engineer, entrepreneur, inventor, philosopher, computer scientist, computer engineer, futurologist, musician, programmer, software engineer, transhumanist

L to R

Jaron Lanier -- computer scientist, inventor of the term "virtual reality", musician, artist, futurist
Somerset Maugham --physician,author
Jonathan Miller -- physician,playright
Story Musgrave -- mathematician, physicist, chemist, Astronaut, computer scientist, Heart Surgeon, author
John von Neumann -- mathematician, physicist, chemist, economist, computer scientist
Walter J. Ong -- communication theorist, literature, media studies, psychology, psychiatry, philosophy, theology
Pier Paolo Pasolini -- philosopher, linguist, novelist, playwright, filmmaker, journalist, actor, painter
Linus Pauling -- 2-time Nobel laureate
John Robinson Pierce -- telecommunications pioneer, computer musician, science fiction author
Walter Pitts -- cognitive psychologist, Mathematical-logician, philosopher, Cyberneticist, Neuroscientist
Michael Polanyi -- physical chemist, philosopher, theologian, economist
Kukrit Pramoj -- author, economist, historian, novelist, philosopher, statesman
Anatol Rapoport -- mathematician, psychologist, concert pianist, general systems theorist, Game theorist
José Protacio Mercado Rizal y Alonzo Realonda -- amateur architect, artist, amateur economist, educator, amateur ethnologist, scientific farmer, historian, internationalist, inventor, journalist, mythologist, naturalist, novelist, ophthalmologist, physician, poet, polyglot, propagandist, sculptor, amateur sociologist
Theodore Roosevelt -- author, bureaucrat, journalist, hunter, naturalist, soldier, politician (U.S. President), woodsman
John Ruskin -- artist, professor, architect, author, essayist, poet, art critic, social critic, art historians, geologist
Bertrand Russell -- author, essayist, mathematician, philosopher, political activist

S to Z

Albert Schweitzer -- philosopher, virtuoso organist (musician), humanitarian, theologian, physician
William James Sidis -- mathematics, law, Native American history, psychology, and language
Herbert Simon -- cognitive psychologist, computer scientist, economist and philosopher
Rabindranath Tagore -- poet, playwright, novelist, visual artist, song writer, philosopher, social worker
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien -- Poet, Novelist, linguist, Educator, European mythology expert.
Lewis Thomas -- physician, poet, etymologist, essayist, administrator, educator, policy advisor, and researcher.
Ludwig Wittgenstein -- cognitive philosopher, mathematical logician, architect, aeronautical engineer, composer
Stephen Wolfram -- computer program designer, physicist, artist, philosopher

Legendary/Culture Heroes/Fictional

Note: Some legendary figures might be based on actual polymaths whose history is not well-recorded. They do not belong in the main list because their existence is uncertain, but they are mentioned in the event that elements of their story prove true.

Atonga, Polynesian culture hero noted for starting music and canoeing.
Buckaroo Banzai, fictional and humorous science fiction character (a frequently-heard comment from adult fans: "I want to be Buckaroo when I grow up"). Talents include: physicist, neurosurgeon, martial artist, rock musician, race car driver, inventor, head of international crime-fighting team, has the President of the United States on speed-dial, and even has comic book (in his fictional world) chronicling his exploits.
Daedalus, architect, inventor, craftsman.
Odin, Norse deity of war and wisdom, known for his poetry, the study of magic, and credited with invention of writing.
Fu Hsi, Chinese culture hero who was said to have started writing, fishing, metallurgy and law.
Sherlock Holmes, fictional character based on a mix of Dr. Joseph Bell and author Arthur Conan Doyle; scientist, detective, martial artist, violinist.
Sundiata Keita, semi-historical legendary founder of the Mali Empire whose tales sometimes gave him a variety of skills (magician, warrior, scholar, etc).
Quetzalcoatl, ancient Mesoamerican ruler considered the originator of the arts, poetry and all knowledge.
Volund, Norse, probably based on the Greek legends of Daedalus.
Milo Giacomo Rambaldi, also fictional but based on Nostradamus and Leonardo da Vinci.
Hannibal Lecter, fictional serial killer created by Thomas Harris; chef, psychologist, musician, artist, mathematician, historian.
Cmdr. Spock of Star Trek: scientist, musician, warrior (when necessary), diplomat; well-informed on virtually every subject.
Dr. Sam Beckett of Quantum Leap is hinted at as being a polymath as he holds numerous degrees.
Ra's al Ghul, DC Comics supervillain and an enemy of Batman; possesses numerous skills accumulated over several lifetimes but is primarily known as a physician, scientist (in particular alchemy) and fencer
The Phantom of the Opera In Gaston Leroux's novel of the same name-Musician, Inventor, architect, Sculptor