Young Thomas Young

The Visionary 20th-Century Universal Genius

Originally Published On Setzeus

Quick Intro

The fourth entry in this series of Masters of Many in their formative years lacks the mainstream popularity of our previous protagonists, especially relative to Da Vinci & Franklin; Thomas Young, however, nonetheless embodies the perfect portrait of a 20th-century polymath. Praised by the likes of Eisenstein, Asimov, & Maxwell, Young’s accomplishments are countless & impactful; as renowned author Isaac Asimov once claimed [of Young]:

He was the best kind of infant prodigy, the kind that matures into an adult prodigy

Young held a rare, feverish desire to learn & accomplish within; this tenacity in pursuit of knowledge, paired with his clearly-heightened, raw intelligence, led to a uniquely productive & prolific life.

Staying in context with the previous entries, let’s down narrow the historical peripherals to a decade of his formative years, asking the question— what was he like in his twenties?

Note-Worthy Accomplishments

— Established the wave theory of light through his double-slit experiment; first physicist to suggest that light is both a particle & a wave