The Avatars of Human Creativity

Astronaut, doctor, art collector, dancer, ... Mae Jemison shares his wish to create bold thinkers by teaching arts and sciences together.

This TED made me think of how I consider "the big men" of the history people like Leonardo da Vinci (artist?scientist?), who drew the Mona Lisa and at the same time planned a 720-foot bridge for the Ottoman; Louis Pasteur (scientist?artist?), who first taught at L'Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris (at the same time that Renoir, Sisley, and Monet were students there), and then discovered the process of anaerobiosis.

Up until about 200 years ago, a person wasn't considered well educated unless they were adapt in a wide range of skills. For example, in 1580, Edward De Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, described the qualities expected of a man of the court of Queen Elizabeth I:

Honor, erudition, beauty.
Athletic prowess such as: fencing, wrestling, shooting, bowling, tennis, riding, horsemanship, combat, falconry, hunting, climbing, leaping, dancing.
A command of omnibus fields of learning, such as:
Medicine, law, astronomy, physiology, cosmography, philosophy, divinity, music, writing and drawing.
In addition to all these, De Vere also wrote poetry and plays and was fluent in Latin and Greek, as well as several other languages.

...

Not that I was planning on applying for a job at the court... :]