Polymath

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A polymath is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects,
known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems.

The earliest recorded use of the term in English is from 1624,
in the second edition of The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton;[2]
the form polymathist is slightly older, first appearing in the Diatribae upon
the first part of the late History of Tithes of Richard Montagu in 1621.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymath

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1603 Johann von Wowern, a Hamburg philosopher[5][6][7] defined polymathy as
"knowledge of various matters, drawn from all kinds of studies [...] ranging freely
through all the fields of the disciplines, as far as the human mind,
with unwearied industry, is able to pursue them".[5]

Polymaths include the great scholars and thinkers of the Islamic Golden Age,
the period of Renaissance and the Enlightenment,
who excelled at several fields in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and the arts.
In the Italian Renaissance, the idea of the polymath was expressed by Leon Battista Alberti
(1404–1472) in the statement that "a man can do all things if he will".[8]

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Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei
(Italian: [ɡaliˈlɛːo ɡaliˈlɛi]; 15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642)
was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer,
sometimes described as a polymath, from Pisa.[3]
Galileo has been called the "father of observational astronomy",[4]
the "father of modern physics",[5][6]
the "father of the scientific method",[7] and the "father of modern science".[8]

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Benjamin Franklin FRS FRSA FRSE
(January 17, 1706 [O.S. January 6, 1705][Note 1] – April 17, 1790)
was a British American polymath and one of
the Founding Fathers of the United States.

Franklin was a leading writer, printer, political philosopher, politician, Freemason,
postmaster, scientist, inventor, humorist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat.

As a scientist, he was a major figure in the American Enlightenment and
the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity.

As an inventor, he is known for the lightning rod, bifocals, and the Franklin stove,
among other inventions.[1]
He founded many civic organizations, including the Library Company,
Philadelphia's first fire department,[2] and the University of Pennsylvania.[3]

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Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1st Baronet KH FRS
7 March 1792 - 11 May 1871 [1] was an English polymath,
mathematician, astronomer, chemist, inventor, experimental photographer
who invented the blueprint,[3][4][5] and did botanical work.[6]

Herschel originated the use of the Julian day system in astronomy.
He named seven moons of Saturn and four moons of Uranus
the seventh planet, discovered by his father Sir William Herschel.

He made many contributions to the science of photography,
and investigated colour blindness and the chemical power of ultraviolet rays.
His Preliminary Discourse (1831), which advocated an inductive approach
to scientific experiment and theory-building, was an important contribution
to the philosophy of science.[7]

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