Its better if first we figure out what does the title suggests. Multi-talented basically describes the specialized work of people in more than one field of life. It is the obvious fact that everybody wants to be a multi-talented. But in our opinion it better suits to those geniuses and God gifted people who did remarkably well in multiple fields of science. So the editorial staff at scienceve decided to provide you a list of 7 multi-talented scientists who did exceptionally in different science areas.
7 Isaac Newton (1642 – 1726)
Isaac Newton who latterly designated as Sir Isaac Newton was born in England. Newton is considered as the most influential physicist of the 17th and 18th century. Generally he is famous for his work in physics but Newton is among the most talented persons in the world who worked in more than one fields of science.
As a Physicist
In 1671 Newton demonstrated his Revolutionary Reflecting Telescope with the Royal Society and soon after published his note on colors describing his research on Optics. After his visit from Royal Society Newton was encouraged to prove Robert Hooke’s hypothesis on planetary motion. Newton published his famous book Principia in 1687 which introduced his three laws of motion and first described the idea of gravity. Newton’s Principia is generally recognized to be the single most important scientific book ever written.
As a Mathematician
Beside physics Newton’s work is greatly acknowledged in mathematics as well. He worked for the development of calculus. Newton might be the first person, who wrote such a comprehensive book Principia which for the first time set forth a working, quantitative, exact mathematical system based upon experimentation and physical observation.
As a Philosopher and Alchemy
Newton’s work made him very popular and led him to be elected in Parliament. After spending several years in London Newton suffered a nervous breakdown. As he came out of it his interest in physical science was replaced with philosophy and alchemy. Particularly how they both related to higher power. He studied much about the four elemental properties of nature, earth, air, fire and water and tried to realize how these four things make the substance.
6 Aristotle (384 – 322 BC)
Aristotle the founder of the Lyceum, the teacher of the Alexander the great and the father of logic was born on the northern periphery of classical Greece. His father Nicomachus died when Aristotle was a child. At the age of 17 he joined the academy of Plato at Athens and remained there for almost 20 years. His writings cover many subjects, including Physics, Biology, Zoology, Meta-physics, Ethics, Logic, Poetry, Theater, Music, Linguistics and Politics. Aristotle is listed among the multi-talented scientists as he is considered as the first genuine scientist in history.
As a Physician
In 335 BC Aristotle founded his own school called the Lycaum. During his time at Lycaum Aristotle studied almost every topic. He was one of the earlier pioneers of the world of Biology. His notes were full of observations on various life forms including embryology of the chick. Aristotle starts to study about many marine animals including the octopus and other invertebrates. Latterly it was proved that his observations were very accurate. He attempted the classification of animals on the basis of shared characteristics including where they lived, in the water, in air or on land and whether they are red blood or not. This is not too different from our distinction between vertebrates and invertebrates. Aristotle’s system of classification continued to be used for over thousand years.
As a Philosopher
Although Aristotle was a clearly dedicated scientist but also he is best known for his philosophy. Aristotle’s Philosophy includes the discussion on Rettoric and the importance of logic. Meta-physics including the distinction between matter and form and ethics including a code of conduct for good living.
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5 Al Biruni (973 – 1052)
Al Biruni, in full pronounced as Abu Al Rayhan Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Al Biruni was a famous Muslim mathematician, astronomer, historian, geographer, anthropologist and ethnographist. Al Biruni was born in Khwarezm now in Uzbekistan. He served in the eras of more than six princes. Al biruni is considered as one of the most famous polymath in Muslim history. Al Biruni listed his work in an index in the last decade of his life. But still we are unable to find most of his research work in different fields of science.
As a Mathematician
The Taḥdid nihāyāt al-amākin li-taṣḥīḥ masāfāt al-masākin (“Determination of the Coordinates of Places for the Correction of Distances between Cities”) is one of his famous books and regarded as the master piece in mathematical geography. In this book he explained the methods to study the longitudes and latitudes of earth for the first time. In the 11th century he described the method to find the direction of Mecca from the Ghazna. In his book Al Biruni explained how he combined the algebra and geometry in a practical way to solve the epic problem of how to calculate the size of the earth. For the first time Biruni measured the circumference and radius of the earth in early 11th century. Which is approximately equal to the modern day measurements.
As an Astronomer
95 of the 146 books known to have written by Al Biruni were diverted to Astronomy and related subjects like astrology and mathematical geography. Al Biruni’s major work on Astrology is primarily an astronomical and mathematical text. In discussing speculations by other Muslim writers on the possible motion of the earth Al Beruni favored the ancestors and latterly came with the idea of rotation of earth.
4 Marie Curie (1867-1934)
Marie Skłodowska Curie was born in a Warsaw Poland in a family with a strong educational background. Marie curie is exceptionally known for his contributions in two major fields of science: Physics and Chemistry.
As a Physicist
Marie curie completed his Ph.D. degree from a French university. She came to Paris for education and met Pierre Curie. Where she shared the science lab with Pierre Curie and latterly they married as well. Marie Curie along with her husband Pierre Curie began study in radiation and the properties of Uranium. Marie and Pierre’s main discoveries were the abilities to isolate the radioactive elements which came from the Uranium based ore called pitchblende. They discovered two new radioactive elements Radium and Polonium. In 1903 Marie and Pierre were awarded a Nobel Prize in Physics along with Professor Henri Becquerel.
As a Chemist
After the discovery of Radium to accept it a new element by Chemists she had to isolate it. She started a four years process for the isolation of the element. “It was like to create something out of nothing” said Marie Curie. By July 1902 Marie produced 1/10th of a gram of Radium by ten times of Pitchblende. Marie presented her findings in her doctoral thesis in 1903 and becoming the first women in France to gain a doctoral science degree. In 1911 Marie was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for in recognition of her services to the advancements of Chemistry by the discovery of elements Radium and Polonium. Currently Marie Curie is the only women to won two Nobel Prizes in two different categories.
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3 Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Benjamin Franklin was the tenth among the fifteen kids of a soap maker, Josiah Franklin. Franklin struggled from very early days of his life. But he was a true polymath. Franklin proved himself to be founding fathers of America. Franklin was a leading author, political theorist, inventor, printer, politician, Freemason, post master, civic activist and diplomat.
As a Scientist
As a scientist Franklin is best known for his work in electrical theory. What he did as an experimenter in electricity was to establish the laws by which electricity operates. How to store electricity? How to use it? He snatched lightening from the skies. He believed lightening is the most powerful version of a spark. To prove his theory, he conducted his famous experiment of the kite and the key. Franklin supported his contemporary Leonard Euler for explaining Christian Huygens’s Wave theory of light which was ignored by science community at that time. During his experiments Franklin was almost killed twice.
As a Politician and Diplomat
As a politician he still stands as one of America’s most effective statesmen and ambassadors. In the summer of 1776 Franklin was a part of five men committee that would draw up the document declaring American independence. Franklin was short listed to negotiate with French Government to help the American cause of self-independence. He became very popular in French society. Franklin could speak five languages. He taught himself to read French, Italian, Latin and Spanish after already knowing English. He was always looking for ways to self-improve and figured being fluent in other languages would help him in his future.
2 Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)
Louis Pasteur was a Chemist and a Microbiologist born in eastern France. And is one of the founders of the modern microbiology. Louis Pasteur got an amazing talent and that’s the reason he is listed among the top multi-talented scientists.
As a Chemist
Pasteur’s doctoral thesis was on crystallography. Which concerned the arrangement of atoms in solids. And finally it earned him a position as a professor of chemistry at the University of Strasbourg. Louis Pasteur in his thesis work on crystallography analyzed the crystallized tartaric acid. He showed there were two different versions of molecular forms. Pasteur carefully examined the crystals by shining light with them. Pasteur found that synthesized crystals bend light one way while the synthesized bend the other way. And if we mix the crystals with each other in equal amount they will cancel the effect of each other and light will not bend at all.
As a Microbiologist
As a microbiologist Pasteur studied the molecular asymmetry. And discovered that microorganisms cause fermentation and disease. His discovery helped to reduce the mortality rate from fever. He was best known for the technique known as Pasteurization. Pasteurization is a process of heating a liquid to a specific temperature for a fixed amount of time and then cooling it. The process helped Pasteur to slow the microbial growth in milk and wine. He also developed the vaccines for rabies and anthrax. Meanwhile Pasteur took on the common misconception of spontaneous generation. That people still thought that life come out of non-living materials.
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1 Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519)
Leonardo Da Vinci commonly termed as Leonardo might be the most talented Polymath ever in the history. Italian Renaissance’s areas of interest were painting, architecture, science, invention, music, sculpting, engineering, mathematics, anatomy, literature, botany, astronomy, geology, history and many more.
As a Painter
Leonardo was among most important painter of Italian Renaissance. Leonardo’s greatest contribution to paintings was his idea of smato which essentially means smoky and is a way of producing atmospheric prospective in painting. The most famous work and the most important work that Leonardo produced in Milan was his Last Supper. During the early fifteen hundred De Vinci also began painting the Mona Lisa. The Mona Lisa is one of the Leonardo’s most important works and it is today world’s most famous painting. I can’t think of any other work that has so consistently fascinated people over time.
As an Inventor
The Self-Propelled Cart: was one of the many inventions Leonardo created dealing with locomotion and transportation. Leonardo’s cart was powered by coiled springs and it also featured steering and brake capabilities. In 2006 Italy’s institute of museum of history and science built a working model based on Da Vinci’s design and to the surprise of many, the cart actually worked.
The Parachute: Da Vinci made a sketch of the invention with this accompanying description. “ If a man had a tent made of linen of which the apertures (openings) have all been stopped up, and it be twelve braccia (about 23 feet) across and twelve in depth, he will be able to throw himself down from any great height without suffering any injury”. Adrian Nicholas in 2002 developed a prototype of Da Vinci’s design and experienced a much smoother ride than the modern Parachute.
The Flying Machine: One of Da Vinci’s most famous inventions the Flying machine ideally displays his powers of observations and imaginations. It had a wing span that exceeded 33 feet and the frame made of pine covered with raw silk to create a steady membrane. To power the wings the pilot will paddle the crank connected to a pulley system. The machine also had a hand crank to increase the energy upward and a head piece for steering. Unfortunately when the flying machine may have flown once in the air a person can never have created enough power to let the device out of the ground.
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