List of polymaths

The following is a list of of famous polymaths, or individuals noted for excelling in multiple fields or disciplines.

Ancient

  • Aristotle
  • Anicius Manlius Severinus Boëthius
  • Avicenna
  • Averroës
  • Biruni
  • Maimonides, or RaMBaM, physician, rabbi, and philosopher
  • Ptolemy
  • Pythagoras
  • Abu Bakr Mohammad Ibn Zakariya al-Razi, Razi or Rhazes — medicine, chemistry and philosophy
  • Hypatia

Renaissance

  • Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, magician, theologian, soldier, legal expert, astrologist, alchemist and writer
  • Leone Battista Alberti, painter, poet, philosopher, cryptographer, musician and architect
  • Sir Thomas Browne, physician, philosopher, literature, medicine, religion, science
  • Albrecht Dürer, painter, geometry, fortification
  • Desiderius Erasmus, theologian, paedagogue, linguist & philologist, historian, exegete
  • Athanasius Kircher, egyptology, geology, and music theory
  • Leonardo da Vinci, engineer, physician, artist, juggler, musician and composer
  • William Petty, scientist and philosopher
  • Theodor Zwinger doctor, ethicist, linguist

Classical

  • Alexander Borodin, composer and chemist
  • Sir George Cayley, naturalist, physical scientist, engineer, inventor and politician
  • Descartes, mathematician and philosopher
  • Liu E, writer, musician, physician and entrepreneur
  • Benjamin Franklin, politician, physicist, inventor and writer.
  • Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, novelist, poet, philosopher, scientist
  • G. W. F. Hegel, philosopher, historian, art theorist, theologian, jurist
  • Thomas Hobbes, political theorist, historian, optical scientist, translator, classicist
  • Robert Hooke, experimental scientist, natural philosopher, biologist, physicist, architect, inventor
  • Christiaan Huygens, natural philiosopher, horologist, astronomer, mathematician, inventor
  • Thomas Jefferson, politician, architect, archaeologist and writer.
  • Alexandre Kojeve, philosopher, jurist, politician, intellectual historian, polyglot
  • Gottfried Leibniz, lawyer, mathematician, philosopher
  • Mikhail Lomonosov, literature, education, and science
  • John Stuart Mill, philosopher, political writer, economist
  • Samuel Morse, artist, politician, inventor, educator
  • Isaac Newton, mathematician, physicist, alchemist, theologian, economist
  • Blaise Pascal, mathematician, physicist, theologian, philosopher (logic, probability, and ethics)
  • Henri Poincaré, mathematician, physicist, philosopher
  • Adam Smith, jurist, (founding) economist, psychologist, historian, theologian, literary critic
  • Nikola Tesla, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer and physicist
  • Giambattista Vico, philosopher, historian, jurist
  • Max Weber, (founding) sociologist, historian, jurist, philosopher
  • Christopher Wren, architect, astronomer and mathematician

Modern

  • Gregory Bateson, anthropologist, social scientist, linguist and cyberneticist
  • Kenneth E. Boulding, economist, educator, poet, religious mystic, systems scientist, and interdisciplinary philosopher
  • Jacob Bronowski, physicist, biologist, writer
  • William F. Buckley Jr., novelist, journalist, pianist, secret agent
  • Ernst Cassirer, historian of philosophy, art, mathematics, science, psychology; philosopher
  • Noam Chomsky, linguist, cognitive theorist, information analyst (propaganda theorist), political theorist & commentator, moralist
  • Moshe Feldenkrais, engineer, physicist, Judo blackbelt, creator of the Feldenkrais Method
  • Erich Fromm, psychologist, philosopher, intellectual historian, sociologist, biblical exegete
  • Buckminster Fuller, designer, metal-tradesman, mathematician, professor, theoretician
  • Aldous Huxley, novelist, poet, travel writer, philosopher, occultist, botanist, literary critic, intellectual historian, screenwriter for television & film
  • William James, (founding) psychologist, medical scholar, philosopher
  • Jonathan Miller, opera director, physician, writer
  • John von Neumann, mathematician, physicist, chemist, economist, computer scientist
  • Michael Polanyi, physical chemist, philosopher, theologian, economist
  • Walter Pitts, cognitive scientist, mathematical-logician, philosopher
  • Kukrit Pramoj, author, economist, historian, novelist, philosopher, statesman
  • Anatol Rapoport, mathematician, psychologist, pianist, general systems theorist
  • Jose Rizal, Filipino renaissance man
  • Bertrand Russell, mathematician, philosopher, writer, political activist
  • Herbert Simon, cognitive psychologist, computer scientist, economist and philosopher
  • Gore Vidal, author, actor, historian, playwright, political commentator
  • Ludwig Wittgenstein, cognitive philosopher, mathematical logician, architect, aeronautical engineer, composer
  • Spencer Homick, artist, musician, scientist, engineer, linguist, philosopher, poet, historian
  • Albert Schweitzer, philosopher, virtuoso organist (musician), theologian, physician.