Renaissance Man: Difference between revisions

* Matteo Ricci (1552-1610); Italian Jesuit and a phenomenal figure in the East-West scientific exchange in China. "Matteo Ricci was the perfect man of culture, a polymath versed in all things, mathematics and literature, philosophy and poetry, mechanics and astronomy." In collaboration with Xu Guangqi, he was also the first to translate classic Confucian texts into Latin and classic Western texts into Chinese (including portions of Euclid's Elements).

* Rene Descartes (1596-1650), working in pilosophy, medicine mathematics and physics. He wrote up the first explanation of phantom limbs, the shape and size of the rainbow - proving it was caused by water droplets, explained the ring of light sometimes seen around the moon, developed Cartesian coordinates and proved his own existence. Also challenged anyone in Paris who would dare claim he had a bastard son to a duel (he had a ''daughter'' out of wedlock).

* Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727). Thougt himself a theologist first of all. Is more known for wave optics, calculus and what is known to us as, well, "Newtonian Mechanics". Tried alchemy, astrology and numerology. As the Master of the Mint, developed at least one currency protection measure, changed Britain's monetary policy and personally conducted investigations.

* [[Benjamin Franklin]] (1706-1790) . In addition to his studies of electricity (and the kite experiment was a minor footnote), he also developed the basic principles of meteorology, charted the gulf stream, worked on advanced heating technologies all his life, invented swim fins and a new musical instrument, expanded his one print shop to have satellite print shops in every colony, and then sold them off once he decided he was rich enough to stop working. During his business days, he established the first American lending library and the first university (UPenn) that wasn't devoted to training clergy. He also was the Colonies' ambassador to France, and despite the Declaration of Independence being a forbidden document, he ultimately talked the king into putting his own government in hock to pay off the Revolutionary War. And he's also the main reason why the Constitutional Convention included the option for passing amendments.

* A claimant for the honor of "the last polymath"--albeit more on the humanities side of the spectrum--is [[Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe|Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]] (1749 - 1832). His works spanned literature, drama (he wrote ''[[Faust]]''), science (morphology and colour theory), law, philosophy (where he is considered one of the greats) and religion.

* About the last true polymath was Thomas Young (1773 - 1829), who made fundamental contributions to physics (wave theory of light), engineering (Young's modulus), and biology (how the eye worked). Oh, and he also helped to decipher the Rosetta Stone.

* Thomas Edison (1847-1931)'s inventions covered a wide variety of fields.

** In reality, Edison had loads of talented employees, regularly bought or stole inventions, and his [[Survival Mantra]] was apparently "[[Glad I Thought of It|I'm Glad I Thought Of It]]". He was a smart man, but his range is possibly exaggerated.

* Robert Williams Wood, 1868-1955. Was one of pioneers of physical optics, both research and development. Such as inventions and applications in out-of-visible spectrum photography and astronomy, spectroscopy -- and animated pictures. Boomerang enthusiasm, automobile enthusiasm and introduction of surfing in USA. Invention of a way to unfreeze plumbing and development of submarine detection by sonar. Forensics: as an explosives expert, introduction of UV lamps (detection of forgeries and ''the'' countermeasure which depreciated "invisible inks") and discovery of explosively formed projectiles. Discovery of hydrogen recombination and disproving radiation theory of greenhouses (they work because glass stops ''hot air''). The first proposal of using tear gas as an incapacitating weapon and quack hunt, including un-discovery of N-rays (physical optics was "his" territory). Great prankster and almost Patron Saint of [[Education Through Pyrotechnics]]. When readers of ''[[Hurricane of Puns|How to tell the birds from the flowers]]'' asked whether he wrote another book, he gave them ''Physical Optics''.

* [[Dichter Und Denker|German philosopher Oswald Spengler]] (1880-1936) came close. His main work ''[[The Decline of the West (Literature)|The Decline of the West]]'' covers these topics: History, biology, geology, economy, laws, mathematics, architecture, music, painting, other arts, linguistics, politics, religion (or at least religious history), various languages, psychology, philosophy... Not necessarily in that order. It's probably no coincidence that he was a big fan of Goethe (see above).

* [[Richard Feynman]] (1918-1988) was a Nobel-winning theoretical physicist by profession, but that didn't stop him studying a wide variety of fields for recreational purposes: biology, mathematics, philosophy, psychology, computing, drawing, music and [[Safecracking]].

{{quote| "On the infrequent occasions when I have been called upon in a formal place to play the bongo drums, the introducer never seems to find it necessary to mention that I also do theoretical physics."}}

* Giles Brindley (1926-) is best known for two medical discoveries: creating the first neuroprosthetic device to be successfully used to restore sight, and developing the first widely-used drug treatment for erectile dysfunction ([http://alignmap.com/2006/11/06/presentation-is-not-really-everything-the-giles-brindley-show/ he's quite well-known for how he presented the results]--by [[Professor Guinea Pig|injecting himself]] with the drug and...[[Gag Penis|showing off]]). Neural engineering and urology are fairly diverse fields to be contributing to, but Brindley has also composed and published several pieces music, invented a musical instrument (the logical bassoon), and apparently enjoys marathon running and orienteering.

* The american singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist, humorist and mathematician Thomas Andrew Lehrer (1928-).

* A more modern, albeit somewhat debatable example: Dieter Meier (1945-). He was a key member of the influential electronica band Yello (whose first album was described as the "most varied and accomplished of any synth pop debut" by Allmusic). Also, Dieter Meier is known for being a quite successful conceptual artist and performance artist. In his spare time, he's a millionaire industrialist and award winning director. Sometimes, he also designs scarves and creates restaurants. To top it off, he was once a member of the Swiss national golf team. So, a bit impressive.

* How about [[Bruce Dickinson (Music)|Bruce Dickinson]] (1958-)? [[Iron Maiden (Music)|Iconic metal singer-songwriter]], historian, pilot, fencer, screenwriter, author, director, entrepreneur... A minor example, but the man sure doesn't sit still long.