Polymath
<p >A <b>polymath</b> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language" title="Greek language" >Greek</a>: πολυμαθής, <i>polymathēs</i>, "having learned much")<sup id="cite_ref-Online_Etymology_Dictionary-Polymath_0-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymath#cite_note-Online_Etymology_Dictionary-Polymath-0" >[1]</a></sup> is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas. In less formal terms, a polymath (or polymathic person) may simply be someone who is very knowledgeable. Most ancient scientists were polymaths by today's standards.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymath#cite_note-1" >[2]</a></sup>
The common term <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Renaissance_men" title="List of Renaissance men" >Renaissance man</a></i> is used to describe a person who is well educated or who excels in a wide variety of subjects or fields.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymath#cite_note-2" >[3]</a></sup> The concept emerged from the numerous great thinkers of that era who excelled in multiple fields of the arts and science, including <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci" title="Leonardo da Vinci" >Leonardo da Vinci</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo" title="Michelangelo" >Michelangelo</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei" title="Galileo Galilei" >Galileo Galilei</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copernicus" title="Copernicus" class="mw-redirect" >Copernicus</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon" title="Francis Bacon" >Francis Bacon</a>; the emergence of these thinkers was likewise attributed to the then rising notion in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_Italy" title="Renaissance Italy" class="mw-redirect" >Renaissance Italy</a> expressed by one of its most accomplished representatives, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Battista_Alberti" title="Leon Battista Alberti" >Leon Battista Alberti</a>(1404–1472): that "a man can do all things if he will."<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymath#cite_note-3" >[4]</a></sup> It embodied the basic tenets of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_humanism" title="Renaissance humanism" >Renaissance humanism</a>, which considered humans empowered, limitless in their capacities for development, and led to the notion that people should embrace all knowledge and develop their capacities as fully as possible. Thus the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gifted" title="Gifted" class="mw-redirect" >gifted</a> people of the Renaissance sought to develop skills in all areas of knowledge, in physical development, in social accomplishments, and in the arts. The term has since expanded from original usage and has been applied to other great thinkers before and after the Renaissance such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle" title="Aristotle" >Aristotle</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Goethe" title="Johann Goethe" class="mw-redirect" >Johann Goethe</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issac_Newton" title="Issac Newton" class="mw-redirect" >Issac Newton</a>.</p>