monomath

plural monomaths

1. A person with an extensive knowledge of a single subject or field, but little knowledge of others.

   It is not a refuge for self-indulgent monomaths to channelize their aggressions within a community of colleagues and students.

   1960, National Review, volume 8, page 52

   2 more examples

   We don't like polymaths any more. Perhaps it's because even being a monomath is too difficult now; even specialists specialise only in a small subset of their specialty, and learning is an either/or business.

   2006 November 13, Michael Bywater, “Master of all trades”, in New Statesman

   Posner first made his name as a monomath. “I had a very big intellectual commitment for many years to anti-trust law. I wrote a lot about that.” Eventually, though, the polymath rose to the surface and he put anti-trust behind him.

   2009, Edward Carr, "The Last Days of the Polymath", Intelligent Life, Autumn 2009

   Synonyms: specialist