About polymaths
People whose range we admire.
Polymaths are not only in history books. Here are some people working today who cross fields in ways we find inspiring.
This is our list, not theirs. None of these people is connected to Polymath Alliance or has endorsed it, and we don't claim any of them calls themselves a polymath.
Brian May
Guitarist in Queen who went back and earned a PhD in astrophysics. Also a stereoscopic 3-D photographer, and a co-founder of Asteroid Day.
Mae Jemison
Physician, engineer, dancer and the first Black woman to travel to space. Later led the 100 Year Starship project.
Demis Hassabis
Chess master as a teenager, then a video game programmer, then a PhD in cognitive neuroscience. Co-founded DeepMind and shared the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Stephen Wolfram
Physicist who created the Mathematica software and the Wolfram Alpha answer engine, and wrote A New Kind of Science.
Neri Oxman
Designer and former MIT Media Lab professor whose work joins 3-D printing, biology, materials science and computing.
Questlove
Drummer and bandleader of The Roots, Oscar-winning documentary director, author and university teacher.
Mayim Bialik
Actor with a PhD in neuroscience, author of science books for young readers, and a former Jeopardy! host.
Ken Jeong
Licensed physician who became a comedian and actor.
Brian Cox
Particle physicist and science presenter who played keyboards in a pop band before his science career.
Jaron Lanier
Virtual reality pioneer, composer and player of rare instruments, and author of books on technology and society.
Ed Thorp
Mathematician who showed blackjack could be beaten, built an early wearable computer with Claude Shannon, and helped pioneer quantitative investing.
Kevin Kelly
Co-founder of Wired, author and photographer.
Know someone whose range we should admire? Nominations open with the community.