Ten of the most multi-talented people of all time.

All you multitalented folks, get in here!
Everyone wishes to be multi-talented.
There’s actually a term for these types of
people: polymath. This means a
polymath is a person who is
knowledgeable in many areas (science,
music, etc). For some reason, there
haven’t been too many women
polymaths, or Renaisance women,
recorded in history over the years. There
also have been few modern-day
polymaths. Here are ten of the most
multi- talented polymaths of all time.
1. Benjamin Franklin
Credited for being one of the Founding
Fathers of the United States, Franklin
was also an author, printer, politician,
inventor and scientist whose scientific
contributions have influenced physics
and electricity. Inventions by Franklin
include bifocals, the lightning rod, the
Franklin stove, the glass harmonica, the
odometer, and the first public lending
library in the United States. Some of
Franklin’s more notable quotes include
“A house is not a home unless it contains
food and fire for the mind as well as the
body,” which apparently he lived by.
2. Leonardo Da Vinci
Not only considered to be one of the best
artists of all time, Da Vinci is also one of
the most talented men who ever walked
the Earth. He came up with the ideas for
the helicopter, tank, solar power,
calculator, and a theory of plate
tectonics, in addition to painting famous
works like The Last Supper and the
Mona Lisa. The following quote by Da
Vinci proves just what a genius he was:
“Although nature commences with
reason and ends in experience it is
necessary for us to do the opposite, that
is to commence with experience and
from this to proceed to investigate the
reason.” The fact that this quote is over
most people’s heads drives home the
intelligence that resided in Da Vinci.
3. Isaac Asimov
Asimov, the author or editor of over 500
books and 9000 letters and postcards, is
published in nine of the 10 major
categories in the Dewey Decimal System.
He was a writer who was actually a
prolific polymath, with great knowledge
on a wide variety of subjects. Although
he was multi-talented and could be
classified as one of the most intelligent
men of his time, he once noted that
everyone should think highly of
themselves: “And above all things, never
think that you’re not good enough
yourself. A man should never think that.
My belief is that in life people will take
you at your own reckoning.” That belief
is the mark of a true genius.
4. Paul Robeson
Robeson was famous for his beautiful
bass-baritone voice and his acting
talents. In addition to those talents,
however, Robeson was also a
professional athlete, writer, multi-
lingual orator, scholar and lawyer. As
Robeson himself once commented,
“Through the years I have received my
share of recognition for efforts in the
fields of sports, the arts, the struggle for
full citizenship for the Negro people,
labor’s rights and the fight for peace.”
He is one of the pioneering African
American polymaths of our time.
5. Isaac Newton
Newton was the true package when it
comes to a Renaissance man. This
English mathematician, physicist,
theologian, astronomer, alchemist and
philosopher came up with the theories of
gravity and laws of motion. He is often
credited with being more influential in
the world of science than Albert
Einstein. One of the pithiest statements
ever made by Newton is this: “I can
calculate the motion of heavenly bodies,
but not the madness of people.” Truer
words were never spoken.
6. Dr. Albert Schweitzer
Musician, theologian, physician,
philosopher, peace activitist,
humanitarian. Schweitzer did and wrote
about it all. In addition to winning the
Nobel Prize in 1952 for his philosophy of
“Reverence of Life,” Schweitzer also
founded a hospital and campaigned
against nuclear weapons. He lived his
life according to his own personal ethics,
contained within these two quotes: “A
man is ethical only when life, as such, is
sacred to him, that of plants and animals
as that of his fellow men, and when he
devotes himself helpfully to all life that is
in need of help,” and “A man is truly
ethical only when he obeys the
compulsion to help all life which he is
able to assist, and shrinks from injuring
anything that lives.”
7. Hildegard Von
Bingen
There were few Renaissance women, but
Hildegard von Bingen could be
categorized as one of them. This German
woman who was “tithed” to the Church
mastered many different subjects, even
at an early age. She experienced visions,
which she wrote down and published.
These led to the formation of Christian
doctrine and salvation. In her writings,
she also addressed vices. Popes sought
her advice over the years. She also
studied the science of the body and
invented medical terminology including
sanguine and melancholy. She was
known as being a moderate in the time
of extremes, something which truly sets
her apart for her time.
8. Aristotle
One of the most extraordinary polymaths
of all time, Aristotle was a Greek
philosopher who studied under the great
Plato and taught Alexander the Great.
His writings covered a plethora of
subjects including metaphysics, poetry,
physics, logic, music, theater, rhetoric,
government, politics, biology, ethics and
zoology. He is credited with discoveries
including the golden mean, reason, logic
and syllogism. One of his most astute
quotes is as follows: “All human actions
have one or more of these seven causes:
chance, nature, compulsions, habit,
reason, passion, desire.”
9. Thomas Jefferson
The third President of the United States
was arguably one of the most talented
men ever to rule any country. In
addition to politics and government,
Jefferson’s interested were in
architecture, inventions (such as the
rotating book stand and improvements
to the polygraph machine), books, wine
and birds. A prolific writer as well,
Jefferson learned to translate Gaelic. He
knew that “a strong body makes the
mind strong.”
10. Douglas Hofstander
Probably the closest thing we have to a
modern-day polymath or Renaissance
man Hofstadter, born in 1945, is a
professor of cognitive science, author,
philosopher, aesthetist, academic
musician and artist, mathematician and
physicist. Hofstadter is most famous for
Hofstadter’s Law: “It always takes longer
than you expect, even when you take
into account Hofstadter’s Law.”