I quite agree that it was relatively easier then for somebody to gain a vast array of knowledge by reading the exhaustive list of books that was present then and covered most of the fields but I still believe that anyone who is determined even today can spread his knowledge base as wide as possible. You don't need to read all the books available now. Why not choose one? Bless God we have a rating system for books and we have a list of bestsellers. Why not approach the bookshelves and pick one from this list in every field?
Yes! I believe that by doing the above, anyone can grow in wisdom and understanding and get to be like the scholars of the past and even more.