A couple of questions about polymaths for today. First, what
is a polymath? The best way to start is with its dictionary definition. And the
best dictionary to go to is the venerable and weighty Oxford English Dictionary, which gives the following definition: “A person of great or varied
learning; a person acquainted with many fields of study; an accomplished
scholar.” OK, so far, so good, at least for now.
Where did the word come from? Back to the OED, which tells us that polymath comes
from the ancient Greek word polymathis
(πολυμαθής), meaning having learnt much, which itself came from the familiar
Greek prefix poly- (πολυ), meaning
many or much, and the word manthanein
(μανθάνειν), meaning to learn.
So it’s a really old word, but do we know who came up with
this word? Today we believe that the fifth century B.C.E. philosopher
Heraclitus, who is most well-known today for the maxim that “one cannot step
twice into the same river,” created the word.
But why did Heraclitus suddenly want to talk about
polymaths? And what did he say about them? Stay tuned.
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