Editing Polymath (section)

== Renaissance man ==
{{Redirect|Renaissance man|use as a title of cultural works|Renaissance Man (disambiguation){{!}}Renaissance Man}}
[[File:Christopher Wren by Godfrey Kneller 1711.jpg|thumb|''[[Portrait of Sir Christopher Wren]]'' by [[Godfrey Kneller]], 1711. Best known as an [[architect]], [[Christopher Wren]] was also an astronomer, mathematician and physicist]]
The term "Renaissance man" was first recorded in written English in the early 20th century.<ref name="Online Etymology Dictionary - Renaissance man">{{cite web |url = http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=Renaissance+man&searchmode=phrase |title = Online Etymology Dictionary |access-date = 2006-12-05 |year = 2001 |last = Harper |first = Daniel |archive-date = 11 October 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071011163322/http://etymonline.com/index.php?search=Renaissance+man&searchmode=phrase |url-status = live }}</ref> It is used to refer to great thinkers living before, during, or after the [[Renaissance]]. [[Leonardo da Vinci]] has often been described as the archetype of the Renaissance man, a man of "unquenchable curiosity" and "feverishly inventive imagination".<ref name="HG">{{cite book |first=Helen |last=Gardner |title = Art through the Ages |url=https://archive.org/details/gardnersartthro000gard |url-access=registration |year=1970 |pages = [https://archive.org/details/gardnersartthro000gard/page/450 450–456] |publisher=New York, Harcourt, Brace & World |isbn=9780155037526 }}</ref> Many notable polymaths{{efn|Though numerous figures in history could be considered to be polymaths, they are not listed here, as they are not only too numerous to list, but also as the definition of any one figure as a polymath is disputable, due to the term's loosely-defined nature, there being no given set of characteristics outside of a person having a wide range of learning across a number of different disciplines; many also did not identify as polymaths, the term having only come into existence in the early 17th century.}} lived during the Renaissance period, a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th through to the 17th century that began in Italy in the [[Late Middle Ages]] and later spread to the rest of Europe. These polymaths had a rounded approach to education that reflected the ideals of the [[Renaissance Humanism|humanists]] of the time. A [[gentleman]] or [[courtier]] of that era was expected to speak several languages, play a [[musical instrument]], write [[poetry]], and so on; thus fulfilling the Renaissance [[Ideal (ethics)|ideal]].

The idea of a universal education was essential to achieving polymath ability, hence the word [[university]] was used to describe a seat of learning. However, the original [[Latin]] word {{lang|la|universitas}} refers in general to "a number of persons associated into one body, a society, company, community, guild, [[corporation]], etc".<ref>{{Citation | last1 = Lewis | first1 = Charlton T. | last2 = Short | first2 = Charles | title = A Latin Dictionary | place = Oxford | publisher = Clarendon Press | orig-year = 1879 | year = 1966 }}</ref> At this time, universities did not specialize in specific areas, but rather trained students in a broad array of science, philosophy, and theology. This universal education gave them a grounding from which they could continue into apprenticeship toward becoming a [[Master (form of address)|master]] of a specific field.

When someone is called a "Renaissance man" today, it is meant that rather than simply having broad interests or superficial knowledge in several fields, the individual possesses a more profound knowledge and a proficiency, or even an expertise, in at least some of those fields.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=Renaissance+man |title = Renaissance man — Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary |website = M-w.com |access-date = 2012-04-06 |archive-date = 18 May 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060518094413/http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=renaissance+man |url-status = live }}</ref> Some dictionaries use the term "Renaissance man" to describe someone with many interests or talents,<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/orexxnaissanceman?view=uk |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930004730/http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/orexxnaissanceman?view=uk |url-status = dead |archive-date = 30 September 2007 |title=Oxford concise dictionary |publisher=Askoxford.com |access-date=6 April 2012 }}</ref> while others give a meaning restricted to the Renaissance and more closely related to Renaissance ideals.
<!-- The [[Islamic Golden Age]] produced a lot of polymaths, a movement characterized by [[Ziauddin Sardar]] as such "the methods of studying the vast creation of God – from the movement of the stars and planets to the nature of diseases, the sting of an ant, the character of madness, the beauty of justice, the spiritual yearning of humanity, the ecstasy of a mystic – are all equally valid and shape understanding in their respective areas of inquiry. In both its philosophy and methodology, Islam has sought a complete synthesis of science and religion.

Polymaths such as [[al-Biruni]], [[al-Jahiz]], [[al-Kindi]], [[Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi|Abu Bakr Muhammad al-Razi]], [[Ibn Sina]], [[al-Idrisi]], [[Ibn Bajja]], [[Omar Khayyam]], [[Ibn Zuhr]], [[Ibn Tufayl]], [[Ibn Rushd]], [[al-Suyuti]] and thousands of other scholars are not an exception but the general rule in Muslim civilization. The Islamic civilization of the classical period was remarkable for the number of polymaths it produced. This is seen as a testimony to the homogeneity of Islamic philosophy of science and its emphasis on synthesis, interdisciplinary investigations and multiplicity of methods".<ref>[[Ziauddin Sardar]], ''Science in Islamic Philosophy'', in [[Edward Craig (philosopher)|Edward Craig]] (general editor), [[Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy]], volume 8, [[Taylor & Francis]] (1998), p. 564.</ref>
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