The word savant comes from French savoir, meaning what?
AnswerTo know
A savant is a learned person, from the verb to know.
Challenge · Facts & stats
Savant facts & stats
7 fact-checked facts about savants, polymaths and wide-ranging general knowledge, each with the reason behind it. 5 more are in today's round and join this page after it closes.
The basics
Who played the savant Raymond Babbitt in the 1988 film Rain Man?
AnswerDustin Hoffman
Hoffman won the Best Actor Oscar for the role.
Going deeper
The Rain Man character was inspired partly by which real person?
AnswerKim Peek
Kim Peek was famous for his extraordinary memory.
Which of these did polymath Benjamin Franklin invent?
AnswerThe lightning rod
Franklin's lightning rod came from his electricity experiments.
Ibn Sina (Avicenna) wrote which famous medical encyclopedia?
AnswerThe Canon of Medicine
The Canon was a standard medical text for centuries.
Expert level
Polymath Thomas Young made early progress deciphering what?
AnswerThe Rosetta Stone
Young identified some hieroglyphs before Champollion's breakthrough.
Which polymath wrote Micrographia in 1665?
AnswerRobert Hooke
Micrographia showed detailed microscope drawings and coined the term cell.
Know these cold?Today's round is five questions like these, 20 seconds each. Your streak and level follow you to every arena.Play today's round