Michael Polanyi

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Michael Polanyi (1891–1976) was a Hungarian-British polymath who made contributions to physical chemistry, economics, and philosophy.

Relevance

Polanyi introduced the concept of tacit knowledge in Personal Knowledge (1958) and The Tacit Dimension (1966),arguing that “we know more than we can tell”—that some knowledge is fundamentally inarticulable, embodied in skill and intuition rather than explicit propositions.

Key Works

• Personal Knowledge (1958)
• The Tacit Dimension (1966)

Mentioned In

• Knowledge Doesn't Survive the Trip (And Neither Does Spock): "Philosopher Michael Polanyi spent decades studying how scientists actually think, and concluded that all knowledge has a tacit dimension — “we know more than we can tell.” You know how to ride a bike,..."