by mksummerbell

In research for my previous articles on Visionary Viewpoints’ mission statement, I found much fascinating information. But one subject, especially, jumped right up and grabbed my psyche’s attention. Looking for examples of history’s visionaries, I quite quickly came up with a list of more than a hundred! Within minutes I filled a page with names, dates, and life highlights, crammed every which way into each other, and arrowed and asterisked and starred all over the place. As names and notes overflowed to fill a second page, and then on to a third, I tried, in vain, with my little symbol system, to organize them into some kind of order. But so many of these individuals, in their astounding abilities and accomplishments, absolutely defied categorizing.  

Some were familiar to me, others, not so much, and some I’d never heard of before. All together, they had a very strong effect on me. I was amazed by them. Surprised. Excited. Delighted. Inside me, going off like tiny fireworks, only in a strangely quiet, calm and peaceful way, my mind and heart were alight with thoughts, ideas, questions, emotions, possibilities. As I read and reread those pages of vital details, I felt inspiration and motivation. Enjoying the attraction, and connection, I felt toward these exceptional people, I felt compelled to keep delving. I spent hours that night, and many more since then, reading mini biographies of these very extraordinary fellow human beings. In contrast to how I often struggle in my writing process, these moments of exploration were so wonderfully unexpected and fun. 

The excited child in me wants to share them all with you – every life story – including the ones I have yet to discover. For I know my quest is far from over. My practical adult says, “Not realistic.” So – how to decide who makes the short list? I started with those I thought most significant, and added my favorites. But my choices were guided by a definition. In my search, I learned a new word – polymath. It comes from Greek “poly,” meaning “much,” and “manthanein,” meaning “learn.” Thus, “much learning,” or “to learn much.” A polymath is a person of great and varied learning, someone who knows a lot about a lot of subjects. It is sometimes used as a synonym for the archetype of the classic Renaissance man/woman/person. 

Almost irrefutably, the most famous and outstanding example of a polymath is Leonardo da Vinci. With all his deep, intense, incredibly expansive interests, and his almost supernatural talents and skills, he is the quintessential Renaissance man. In his essence, without precedent, peer, or perpetuity. What’s the first thing you think of when his name comes up? The Mona Lisa, Last Supper, or Vitruvian Man? Flying machines? Armored vehicles? Aqueducts and waterworks? Drawings of dissections? The mirror writing of his notebooks and journals? He was so many things – artist, painter, sculptor, writer, humanist, architect, engineer, scientist, mathematician, cartographer. His studies bridged the disciplines of Anatomy, Botany, Biology, Geology,

Paleontology, Astrology, Optics, Physics, Chemistry, Tribology and Hydrodynamics. Many of his inventions and designs were so ahead of their time that the materials to create them didn’t even exist yet! He is the pinnacle, the epitome, and the template of a polymath. 

There are others. Many others. Though they are rare, humanity has a long history, and extremely gifted people are found all along the way, in a vast spectrum of civilizations and cultures. I offer you this list as an invitation to visit a few of them, and spend some time learning about their lives, their genius, how they effected the evolution of humanity, and how they affect you personally.

Looking into their lives, if we can see something of ourselves in them, something of them in us, it might give us a glimpse of recognition of our own greatness, our unique expression of visionary energy.