Polymath
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About Polymath

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the coffee houses of Europe became the main setting for scientific and philosophical argument — so much so that in England they were called Penny Universities. A penny bought you a cup of coffee and, with it, a seat at a discussion worth no less than a university lecture.

Men in eighteenth-century dress gathered around a table in a coffee house, one of them standing with a raised hand mid-argument, papers spread in front of them, a boy carrying a tray of coffee behind.
Interior of a London Coffee House, c. 1750.

Polymath exists to change the received picture of science and learning. We hold that science, culture and philosophy are open to discussion in any time and any place: among specialists, and between specialists and everybody else.

We hold too that anyone can learn the fields they love, and can join conversations that may inspire a learner and spur them on — and may spark something in an inventor or a scientist by chance.

Improving how we learn is not optional for any society. So Polymath is built to be a home for those who seek knowledge and love the sciences, wherever in the world they are.