Andrew Robinson

The last man who knew everything

In today's world of specialisation, it's virtually impossible to contribute to more than one area of study. Even two centuries ago this was very difficult, but in The last man who knew everything Andrew Robinson tells the story of Thomas Young, who was a prime example of such a polymath. We hear of how Young was an expert in many areas, in particular overthrowing Newton's ideas of light corpuscules with his wave based theory, and deciphering Egyptian heiroglyphics from the Rosetta stone. Young also contributed articles to the Encyclopedia Britannica on a wide range of subjects, and all the while had to spend most of his time on his 'day job' as a doctor.

Young was sometimes criticised for being a dilettante. Robinson shows how this criticism was unfounded - how Young was as much an expert as those who specialised in the subjects concerned, and how such a criticism was most likely to come from those whose ideas were challenged by Young. He may not have been able to develop his ideas into a systematic whole, but that is not unusual for the originator of novel theories. I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in the work of Young or in the problems of being a polymath, either two centuries ago or today.

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Paperback 304 pages
ISBN: 0452288053
Salesrank: 215823
Weight:0.25 lbs

Published: 2006 Plume

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Hardcover 304 pages
ISBN: 1851684948
Salesrank: 263357
Weight:1.37 lbs

Published: 2006 Oneworld Publications

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Paperback 304 pages
ISBN: 0452288053
Salesrank: 415542
Weight:0.25 lbs

Published: 2006 Plume

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Product Description
Born in 1773, Thomas Young lived in a pivotal time. The explosion of knowledge that was soon to come made it impossible to be a true polymath—a master of multiple disciplines. Young was the last of the polymaths, and his contributions to science are truly staggering. Challenging the theories of Isaac Newton, he was the first to prove that light is a wave; his work on the Rosetta Stone was instrumental in deciphering the language of the ancient Egyptians; and his study of the human eye led him to formulate the three-color theory of vision, more than a century before it could be proved. And yet, Young was ridiculed and rejected by the scientific establishment throughout his lifetime. In The Last Man Who Knew Everything, Andrew Robinson returns this forgotten genius to his proper position in the pantheon of great scientific thinkers. Thoroughly researched and elegantly executed, Robinson reveals the humble brilliance of a man whose eclectic genius ostracized him from his peers—but whose extraordinary breakthroughs were indispensable in forming the foundation of modern knowledge.

Product Description

Born in 1773, Thomas Young lived in a pivotal time. The explosion of knowledge that was soon to come made it impossible to be a true polymath—a master of multiple disciplines. Young was the last of the polymaths, and his contributions to science are truly staggering. Challenging the theories of Isaac Newton, he was the first to prove that light is a wave; his work on the Rosetta Stone was instrumental in deciphering the language of the ancient Egyptians; and his study of the human eye led him to formulate the three-color theory of vision, more than a century before it could be proved. And yet, Young was ridiculed and rejected by the scientific establishment throughout his lifetime.

In The Last Man Who Knew Everything, Andrew Robinson returns this forgotten genius to his proper position in the pantheon of great scientific thinkers. Thoroughly researched and elegantly executed, Robinson reveals the humble brilliance of a man whose eclectic genius ostracized him from his peers—but whose extraordinary breakthroughs were indispensable in forming the foundation of modern knowledge.

It Ain't Easy Knowing Everything... ****
...and those who do often feel underappreciated by those who don't. Back in my rural childhood, people used "know-it-all" as a painful insult. Not on me, you understand, cuz the one thing I knew best was to keep my mouth shut and my nose in a book. Author Andrew Robinson has organized this biography of polymath Thomas Young around the hypothesis that Young was and has been underappreciated precisely because of the diversity of his interests and the near-impossibility of anybody knowing enough to evaluate his contributions to so many different fields of knowledge. Young himself was not a boastful man; he was quite self-conscious about his propensity to switch intellectual directions, and quite modest about what he didn't know and didn't choose to learn. At a time in his life when much of his income came from writing articles for the Encyclopedia Britannica, he turned down commissions to write about subjects outside his knowledge, stone-cutting for one. But the list of his articles in the EB shows that he in fact wrote on a vast array of subjects, from bridge-building to hieroglyphics. He was easily the most prolific single contributor. Young's most enduring contributions to knowledge - and after all, what you know is less important than what you contribute to humanity's stock of knowledge - were in the disparate fields of optics and Egyptology. His 'proving Newton wrong' refers to his demonstration that light behaves as a transverse wave rather than a 'corpuscle' as Newton insisted. Young's most impressive series of experiments concerned the anatomy and function of the eye - often risking his own eyes in the bizarre procedures available to the laboratory techniques of his era. Robinson clearly regards his subject as a significant figure in our intellectual history who remains underappreciated. Young's personal life and his odd personality become the chief subjects of this biography, though the author analyzes Young's actual accomplishments in science clearly enough. The book falls short, not on content, but on style and organization. Frankly, when Robinson suggests that Young's writing style was less than captivating, I begin to see why the author is enamored of his subject. The book is repetitive at times, and hopscotches around Young's career so that it's easy to lose track of what-happened-in-what-order-and-when. I have to say that, if he were alive today, Thomas Young would make a fine candidate for Vice-President. Someone who knows almost everything is surely preferable to someone who knows almost nothing except how to skin a moose.

It Ain't Easy Knowing Everything... ****

...and those who do often feel underappreciated by those who don't. Back in my rural childhood, people used "know-it-all" as a painful insult. Not on me, you understand, cuz the one thing I knew best was to keep my mouth shut and my nose in a book.

Author Andrew Robinson has organized this biography of polymath Thomas Young around the hypothesis that Young was and has been underappreciated precisely because of the diversity of his interests and the near-impossibility of anybody knowing enough to evaluate his contributions to so many different fields of knowledge. Young himself was not a boastful man; he was quite self-conscious about his propensity to switch intellectual directions, and quite modest about what he didn't know and didn't choose to learn. At a time in his life when much of his income came from writing articles for the Encyclopedia Britannica, he turned down commissions to write about subjects outside his knowledge, stone-cutting for one. But the list of his articles in the EB shows that he in fact wrote on a vast array of subjects, from bridge-building to hieroglyphics. He was easily the most prolific single contributor.

Young's most enduring contributions to knowledge - and after all, what you know is less important than what you contribute to humanity's stock of knowledge - were in the disparate fields of optics and Egyptology. His 'proving Newton wrong' refers to his demonstration that light behaves as a transverse wave rather than a 'corpuscle' as Newton insisted. Young's most impressive series of experiments concerned the anatomy and function of the eye - often risking his own eyes in the bizarre procedures available to the laboratory techniques of his era.

Robinson clearly regards his subject as a significant figure in our intellectual history who remains underappreciated. Young's personal life and his odd personality become the chief subjects of this biography, though the author analyzes Young's actual accomplishments in science clearly enough. The book falls short, not on content, but on style and organization. Frankly, when Robinson suggests that Young's writing style was less than captivating, I begin to see why the author is enamored of his subject. The book is repetitive at times, and hopscotches around Young's career so that it's easy to lose track of what-happened-in-what-order-and-when.

I have to say that, if he were alive today, Thomas Young would make a fine candidate for Vice-President. Someone who knows almost everything is surely preferable to someone who knows almost nothing except how to skin a moose.

Excellent Short Scientific Biography of Thomas Young ****
In Robinson's biography of Thomas Young we get an excellent picture of a scientist working in the early nineteenth century as well as the issues and difficulties faced throughout history by those who study, work and contribute knowledge in a broad range of fields and interests (otherwise known as polymaths). As Robinson himself states in the book, the biography is not meant to be a comprehensive treatment of Young's work in all of the fields to which he contributed nor does it provide an in-depth treatment of Young's work in the areas where he was most influential. Rather, it is an overview of the breadth of Young's contributions and how these contributions came to be accepted within the scientific community of the time. This is most completely described with respect to Young's work in optics (which to the acceptance of a wave theory of light) and his work in languages, most notably hieroglyphics and demotic script. What I found most interesting about the book was the analysis of Young's character and the advantages and disadvantages he experienced in having such a broad array of interests. The author clearly shows Young's tendency to enter a field of study, make important and sometimes ground breaking advances and then to move onto to other areas. In doing so, we see Young's habit of not rigorously working through all the details or implications of a discovery and the controversy that sometimes leads to. The book is well written with copious quotes both from Young and his early biographers. While I found these insightful, they were often lengthy and dry and required some work to plow through. I recommend this book to all those who find themselves studying a wide array of topics, those interested in either the history of physics or linguistics and those who wish to see how a person who belongs to a rare group of individuals (polymaths) works and interacts with the learned culture around them.

Excellent Short Scientific Biography of Thomas Young ****

In Robinson's biography of Thomas Young we get an excellent picture of a scientist working in the early nineteenth century as well as the issues and difficulties faced throughout history by those who study, work and contribute knowledge in a broad range of fields and interests (otherwise known as polymaths).

As Robinson himself states in the book, the biography is not meant to be a comprehensive treatment of Young's work in all of the fields to which he contributed nor does it provide an in-depth treatment of Young's work in the areas where he was most influential. Rather, it is an overview of the breadth of Young's contributions and how these contributions came to be accepted within the scientific community of the time. This is most completely described with respect to Young's work in optics (which to the acceptance of a wave theory of light) and his work in languages, most notably hieroglyphics and demotic script.

What I found most interesting about the book was the analysis of Young's character and the advantages and disadvantages he experienced in having such a broad array of interests. The author clearly shows Young's tendency to enter a field of study, make important and sometimes ground breaking advances and then to move onto to other areas. In doing so, we see Young's habit of not rigorously working through all the details or implications of a discovery and the controversy that sometimes leads to.

The book is well written with copious quotes both from Young and his early biographers. While I found these insightful, they were often lengthy and dry and required some work to plow through. I recommend this book to all those who find themselves studying a wide array of topics, those interested in either the history of physics or linguistics and those who wish to see how a person who belongs to a rare group of individuals (polymaths) works and interacts with the learned culture around them.

An Amazing Individual!!! *****
THhomas Young is more believeable as a character in a work of fiction (comprable to a Nero Wolfe or a Sherlock Holmes) than as a real person. No one can be that smart in so many areas! But the fact that he really lived makes him all the more fantastic. This is a great biography about an amazing man! Also recommended: The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes: The Life and Times of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

An Amazing Individual!!! *****

THhomas Young is more believeable as a character in a work of fiction (comprable to a Nero Wolfe or a Sherlock Holmes) than as a real person. No one can be that smart in so many areas! But the fact that he really lived makes him all the more fantastic.

This is a great biography about an amazing man!

Also recommended: The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes: The Life and Times of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Only read if... *****
Only read this book if you are secure with your own IQ. If you are not, you will leave feeling terribly inadequate as Thomas Young was amazingly portrayed in this book!!!

Only read if... *****

Only read this book if you are secure with your own IQ. If you are not, you will leave feeling terribly inadequate as Thomas Young was amazingly portrayed in this book!!!

Inspiring. *****
Chapters include: Preface Introduction Child Prodigy Fellow of the Royal Society Itinerant Medical Student 'Phenomenon' Young Physician of Vision Royal Institution Lecturer Let There Be Light Waves 'Natural Philosophy & the Mechanical Arts' Dr Thomas Young, M.D., F.R.C.P. Reading the Rosetta Stone Waves of Enlightenment Walking Encyclopedia In the Public Interest Grand Tour Dueling with Champollion A Universal Man Notes & References Bibliography Index *** A fantastic biography of Thomas Young that is not only great for fans of history, but also for students to use in subject reports! *** Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Inspiring. *****

Chapters include:
Preface
Introduction
Child Prodigy
Fellow of the Royal Society
Itinerant Medical Student
'Phenomenon' Young
Physician of Vision
Royal Institution Lecturer
Let There Be Light Waves
'Natural Philosophy & the Mechanical Arts'
Dr Thomas Young, M.D., F.R.C.P.
Reading the Rosetta Stone
Waves of Enlightenment
Walking Encyclopedia
In the Public Interest
Grand Tour
Dueling with Champollion
A Universal Man
Notes & References
Bibliography
Index

***** A fantastic biography of Thomas Young that is not only great for fans of history, but also for students to use in subject reports! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.