Honestly, I think another reason for so many ancient polymaths is that the fields themselves were less developed, and took less time to fully learn. I in no way

Honestly, I think another reason for so many ancient polymaths is that the fields themselves were less developed, and took less time to fully learn. I in no way want to put down Renaissance polymaths, who were tremendously impressive, but it simply takes less time to learn up to the cutting edge of mathematics or chemistry in 1660 than 2016.