The Polymath

The Polymath
Author: Waqas Ahmed
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 250
Release: 2019-01-04
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1119508517

Every human is born with multifarious potential. Why, then, do parents, schools and employers insist that we restrict our many talents and interests; that we 'specialise' in just one? We've been sold a myth, that to 'specialise' is the only way to pursue truth, identity, or even a livelihood. Yet specialisation is nothing but an outdated system that fosters ignorance, exploitation and disillusionment and thwarts creativity, opportunity and progress. Following a series of exchanges with the world’s greatest historians, futurists, philosophers and scientists, Waqas Ahmed has weaved together a narrative of history and a vision for the future that seeks to disrupt this prevailing system of unwarranted ‘hyper-specialisation.’ In The Polymath, Waqas shows us that there is another way of thinking and being. Through an approach that is both philosophical and practical, he sets out a cognitive journey towards reclaiming your innate polymathic state. Going further, he proposes nothing less than a cultural revolution in our education and professional structures, whereby everyone is encouraged to express themselves in multiple ways and fulfil their many-sided potential. Not only does this enhance individual fulfilment, but in doing so, facilitates a conscious and creative society that is both highly motivated and well equipped to address the complexity of 21st century challenges.

The Polymath

The Polymath
Author: Peter Burke
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2020-09-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0300250029

The first history of the western polymath, from the fifteenth century to the present day From Leonardo Da Vinci to John Dee and Comenius, from George Eliot to Oliver Sacks and Susan Sontag, polymaths have moved the frontiers of knowledge in countless ways. But history can be unkind to scholars with such encyclopaedic interests. All too often these individuals are remembered for just one part of their valuable achievements. In this engaging, erudite account, renowned cultural historian Peter Burke argues for a more rounded view. Identifying 500 western polymaths, Burke explores their wide-ranging successes and shows how their rise matched a rapid growth of knowledge in the age of the invention of printing, the discovery of the New World and the Scientific Revolution. It is only more recently that the further acceleration of knowledge has led to increased specialisation and to an environment that is less supportive of wide-ranging scholars and scientists. Spanning the Renaissance to the present day, Burke changes our understanding of this remarkable intellectual species.

The Polymath

The Polymath
Author: Bensalem Himmich
Publisher: American University in Cairo Press
Total Pages: 259
Release: 2009-03-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1617972010

This award-winning historical novel deals with the stormy life of the outstanding Arab philosopher Ibn Khaldun, using historical sources, and particularly material from the writer's works, to construct the personal and intellectual universe of a fourteenth-century genius. The dominant concern of the novel the uneasy relationship between intellectuals and political power, between scholars and authority addresses our times through the transparent veil of history. In the first part of the novel, we are introduced to the mind of Ibn Khaldun as he dictates his work to his scribe and interlocutor. The second part delves into the heart of the man and his retrieval of a measure of happiness and affection in a remarriage, after the drowning of his first wife and their children at sea. Finally we see Ibn Khaldun as a man of action, trying to minimize the imminent horrors of invading armies and averting the sack of Damascus by Tamerlane, only to spend his last years lonely and destitute, having been fired from his post as qadi, his wife having gone to Morocco, and his attempts at saving the political situation having come to nil. "The elusive simplicity and fluency of style manage to entertain and instruct at once. We learn as we read about Ibn Khaldun: his insights into history and historiography, his views of the rise and fall of civilizations, the principles of his sociological thinking, along with intimate aspects of his life, including his tragic losses and his attitude toward women. We also learn of his response to the major crisis of his time, the Tatar invasion of the Mashriq. In short, Ibn Khaldun, the distant and formidable figure, is humanized thanks to this novel." Naguib Mahfouz Medal Award Committee

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Author: M. B. W. Tent
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2011-10-17
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1439892245

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz: The Polymath Who Brought Us Calculus focuses on the life and accomplishments of one of the seventeenth century's most influential mathematicians and philosophers. The book, which draws on Leibniz's written works and translations, and reconstructs dialogues Leibniz may have had based on the historical record of his life ex

Polymaths of Islam

Polymaths of Islam
Author: James Pickett
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 414
Release: 2020-09-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1501750259

Polymaths of Islam analyzes the social and intellectual power of religious leaders who created a shared culture that integrated Central Asia, Iran, and India from the mid-eighteenth century through the early twentieth. James Pickett demonstrates that Islamic scholars were simultaneously mystics and administrators, judges and occultists, physicians and poets. This integrated understanding of the world of Islamic scholarship unlocks a different way of thinking about transregional exchange networks. Pickett reveals a Persian-language cultural sphere that transcended state boundaries and integrated a spectacularly vibrant Eurasia that is invisible from published sources alone. Through a high cultural complex that he terms the "Persian cosmopolis" or "Persianate sphere," Pickett argues that an intersection of diverse disciplines shaped geographical trajectories across and between political states. In Polymaths of Islam he paints a comprehensive, colorful, and often contradictory portrait of mosque and state in the age of empire.

Polymath

Polymath
Author: Peter Hollins
Publisher:
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2020-05-07
Genre:
ISBN: 9781647431624

Expertise pays; polymathy pays exponentially. Build a world-class skillset that will make you unique and irreplaceable. Polymath: a person of wide knowledge and learning. The art of becoming a polymath is really about maximizing your opportunities in life. Don't be the person with the hammer - be the person with an entire woodshop at their disposal. Learn to think outside the box and adopt a flexible mindset. Become multi-faceted. Polymath shows you how to be a singular entity, like Benjamin Franklin, Leonardo da Vinci, and Thomas Young. No, you won't achieve what they achieved, but you will understand the skills, habits, and techniques to master multiple realms of knowledge and skills. Almost every famous genius you know is a polymath. This book will trace their journeys and change the way you look at learning. Jack of all trades, master of none? No such thing. A complete learning framework, from novice to expert, in any skill or discipline. Peter Hollins has studied psychology and peak human performance for over a dozen years and is a bestselling author. He has worked with a multitude of individuals to unlock their potential and path towards success. His writing draws on his academic, coaching, and research experience. Become a modern day Renaissance man/woman; broaden your horizons. -Learn why you should become a pi-shaped polymath. -The primary traits you need to foster genius. -A 10-step process of learning a new topic or skill from A to Z. -How to choose and select your unique set of skills. -How to create your "second brain" on paper. -Examples from every era of mankind. Learn new perspectives, understand people better, and gain confidence to break your comfort zone. Polymathy is the most important skill for your career, hands down. It makes you one-of-a-kind. Become the most unique person you know. Create new routines and habits. Upgrade your life circumstances and see how mentally tough flexible thinking makes you. It boils down to this one question: are you content with your life circumstances? No? Then embrace the polymath mindset.

Polymath of the Baroque

Polymath of the Baroque
Author: Colin Timms
Publisher:
Total Pages: 441
Release: 2003
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0195154738

This is the first book to consider all aspects of the life of Agostino Steffani (1654-1728), a composer, diplomat, and bishop. A remarkable figure of the late 17th and early 18th century Europe, Steffani began his career as a composer, musician, and courtier, but his accomplishments brought him high-level positions in the courts of Germany and the Catholic Church. Throughout his diplomatic and ecclesiatical career, Steffani continued to compose chamber music, vocal chamber music, operas, and sacred music--works which inspired Handel and other Baroque composers.

The Polymath

The Polymath
Author: Waqas Ahmed
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 347
Release: 2019-02-11
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1119508487

Every human is born with multifarious potential. Why, then, do parents, schools and employers insist that we restrict our many talents and interests; that we 'specialise' in just one? We've been sold a myth, that to 'specialise' is the only way to pursue truth, identity, or even a livelihood. Yet specialisation is nothing but an outdated system that fosters ignorance, exploitation and disillusionment and thwarts creativity, opportunity and progress. Following a series of exchanges with the world’s greatest historians, futurists, philosophers and scientists, Waqas Ahmed has weaved together a narrative of history and a vision for the future that seeks to disrupt this prevailing system of unwarranted ‘hyper-specialisation.’ In The Polymath, Waqas shows us that there is another way of thinking and being. Through an approach that is both philosophical and practical, he sets out a cognitive journey towards reclaiming your innate polymathic state. Going further, he proposes nothing less than a cultural revolution in our education and professional structures, whereby everyone is encouraged to express themselves in multiple ways and fulfil their many-sided potential. Not only does this enhance individual fulfilment, but in doing so, facilitates a conscious and creative society that is both highly motivated and well equipped to address the complexity of 21st century challenges.

Lineages of the Literary

Lineages of the Literary
Author: Nicole Willock
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 245
Release: 2021-04-27
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0231551967

Winner, 2024 E. Gene Smith Inner Asia Book Prize, Association for Asian Studies Honorable Mention, 2023 Joseph Levenson Prize Post-1900, Association for Asian Studies In the aftermath of the cataclysmic Maoist period, three Tibetan Buddhist scholars living and working in the People’s Republic of China became intellectual heroes. Renowned as the “Three Polymaths,” Tséten Zhabdrung (1910–1985), Mugé Samten (1914–1993), and Dungkar Lozang Trinlé (1927–1997) earned this symbolic title for their efforts to keep the lamp of the Dharma lit even in the darkest hour of Tibetan history. Lineages of the Literary reveals how the Three Polymaths negotiated the political tides of the twentieth century, shedding new light on Sino-Tibetan relations and Buddhism during this turbulent era. Nicole Willock explores their contributions to reviving Tibetan Buddhism, expanding Tibetan literary arts, and pioneering Tibetan studies as an academic discipline. Her sophisticated reading of Tibetan-language sources vivifies the capacious literary world of the Three Polymaths, including autobiography, Buddhist philosophy, poetic theory, and historiography. Whereas prevailing state-centric accounts place Tibetan religious figures in China in one of two roles, collaborator or resistance fighter, Willock shows how the Three Polymaths offer an alternative model of agency. She illuminates how they by turns safeguarded, taught, and celebrated Tibetan Buddhist knowledge, practices, and institutions after their near destruction during the Cultural Revolution. An interdisciplinary work spanning religious studies, history, literary studies, and social theory, Lineages of the Literary offers new insight into the categories of religion and the secular, the role of Tibetan Buddhist leaders in modern China, and the contested ground of Tibet.