Café Scientifique: Polymaths - who needs them? February 18, 2010

Alasdair Beal

"Polymaths - those brilliant people who range across all kinds of subjects - can be very entertaining but what have they done for science? Are they just dilettanti, 'jacks of all trades but masters of none'? The orthodox view is that real progress comes from the sustained efforts of specialists who concentrate their efforts on a limited area of research in order to make breakthroughs.
Alasdair Beal challenges this view and discusses the achievements of some of history's great polymaths, including the Italian Leonardo da Vinci and the Englishman Thomas Young."

Alasdair Beal is a consulting civil and structural engineer and also former journals editor for the Society for Interdisciplinary Studies.

7:30 for an 8pm start.

Meetings are FREE (although a contribution to expenses is appreciated)

Official Website: http://www.cafe-scientifique-brighton.org.uk/