Polymaths are usually understood as universal people, gifted in various fields. Oddly enough, these amazing individuals, endowed with almost supernatural abilities, have hardly been studied as a phenomenon. The book by the famous historian Peter Burke is a successful attempt to fill this gap. According to his definition, polymaths are not just erudites with wide interests, but scientists with encyclopedic knowledge of a subject or its significant segment. What is their uniqueness and can they be classified? What traits - innate or acquired - contribute to polymathy? How important are the socio-cultural and economic conditions in which these people live and work? How do technical progress and the information explosion affect them? Will polymaths survive as a "species" in the conditions of deepening specialization? Peter Burke seeks answers to these and other questions, exploring the history and "habitat" of polymaths - from Pythagoras to Jared Diamond, from Leonardo da Vinci to Susan Sontag. In recent years, the term "polymath", previously reserved for scientists, has come to encompass people whose achievements range from sports to politics... However, in this book we will focus on academic knowledge, which was previously called "scholarship".

On a personal level, the question of what motivated these people is important. Was it a simple but all-consuming curiosity, the Augustan "just to know", or was there something else underlying what the political scientist Harold Lasswell called in his memoirs "a passion for omniscience"? What made them move from one science to another? A quick loss of interest or an incredible degree of openness of mind? Where did the polymaths find the time and energy for their diverse pursuits? How did they live?

The book will cover Europe and both Americas from the 15th century to the present day. It begins with the uomo universale of the Renaissance, but focuses on the long-term effects of what might be called the two crises of scholarship, the first in the mid-17th century, the second in the mid-19th century. Both involved the widespread distribution of books (it is too early to talk about the long-term effects of the third crisis, the digital revolution). All three crises led to what might be called an information explosion, both in terms of the rapid dissemination of knowledge and its fragmentation.

Who is it for
The book is intended for a wide range of curious readers, especially those interested in sociology, philosophy, culture, personal development, and the history of science.