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Nature 438, 291 (17 November 2005) | doi:10.1038/438291a; Published online 16 November 2005

Open Innovation Challenges

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Concept A polymath's dilemma

Andrew Robinson1

  1. Andrew Robinson is the author of a biography of Thomas Young, The Last Man Who Knew Everything, which is to be published by Pi Press in January. He is literary editor of The Times Higher Education Supplement.

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Thomas Young strove to satisfy his curiosity in virtually every scientific subject and, undeterred by sceptics calling for a narrower focus, made discoveries in almost all the fields he studied.

Polymaths have always posed a problem in academia. How do they relate to specialization and interdisciplinarity, genius and dilettantism, inspiration and perspiration?