ABSTRACT
In medieval and Renaissance times, and for a while beyond, the concept of the Universal Genius enjoyed a wide currency. Such men2
were not exactly common, naturally, but there were those who really did excel at every discipline and who produced work of the highest distinction: one thinks of Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, arguably Shakespeare (a much undersung naturalist who also thoroughly understood contemporary science and cosmology), Milton and – probably the last such figure – Goethe (1749-1832). Shortly after him, the phe-
Revolution/War of Independence which came to an end six years before. Equally important in its different way was the Industrial Revolution in Britain, which was spawned at around the same time. But arguably the most important revolution of all was a far less violent or even visible one: the revolution in knowledge.
