I justed posted on Leonardo da Vinci over at the Information Renaissance blog (q.v.).
There I wrote about the concept of Renaissance Man:
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was and is the archetypal "Renaissance Man." According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, 10th edition, the phrase "Renaissance Man" entered the English language in 1906. They define the concept as "a person who has wide interests and is expert in several areas."
The older term "polymath" describes something of the concept. "Polymath" entered the English language in 1621:
"a person of encyclopedic learning."
Polymath is from Greek, polymathes, "very learned," from poly, "many" or "much" plus manthanein, "to learn," [itself related to the term "to pay attention"; "mathematics" comes from this same word]. This information is from the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary (1998), 10th edition, under the words ("sub verbo"--s.vv.--is the scholar's abbreviation), pp. 903 and 717.
In my current project, the book Confidence in the Future: Succeed and Prosper in the Information Renaissance, I recommend that individuals work to become renaissance men or women to succeed in our era.
It's a recommendation that is challenging, yet it's the path to surviving and thriving.
Learn or be left behind. Grow or die. It's a vision of success that we can all develop, from wherever we start.
Start today. We have a lifetime of learning ahead.
Posted by Jay Gillette at October 11, 2005 05:27 PM