List of child prodigies

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This is a list of people who in childhood (at or before 13) showed exceptional abilities in a specific field comparable to those of a highly skilled adult; hence the term child prodigy.

Contents

[edit] Mathematics and science

[edit] Mathematics

  • Srinivasa Ramanujan(22 December 1887 – 26 April 1920) was an Indian mathematician, who, with almost no formal training in pure mathematics, made substantial contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series and continued fractions.
  • March Tian Boedihardjo: an Indonesian-Chinese born in 1998. In 2007, he gained entry into Hong Kong Baptist University to study mathematics at the age of 9, becoming the youngest ever university student in Hong Kong.
  • William James Sidis: he set a record in 1909 by becoming the youngest person to enroll at Harvard College, being 11 years old.
  • Sufiah Yusof : a Malaysian, in 1997, she gained entry into St. Hilda's College, Oxford University to study mathematics at the age of 12. [1]
  • Terence Tao
  • Magnus LaDue At 9 years old, he discovered an error in one of the Laplace transforms in the CRC Standard Mathematical Tables and Formulae. The incorrect result appears in formula 36 on p. 607.
  • Sir William Rowan Hamilton The great mathematician read Hebrew at the age of seven, and studied Arabic, Persian, Greek, Latin, Syriac, Sanskrit and four others continental languages when he was twelve.[2]
  • Blaise Pascal (June 19, 1623 – August 19, 1662): A French mathematician, physicist, and religious philosopher who wrote a treatise on vibrating bodies at age 9, his first proof on a wall with a piece of coal at age 11 and a theorem by age 16. Famous for Pascal's theorem and many other contributions in mathematics, philosophy, and physics.

[edit] Mental calculators

Note: Several mathematicians were mental calculators when they were still children. This section is for child prodigies largely or primarily known for calculating skills. It should be noted that mental calculators are sometimes more like savants than they are like child prodigies. They have skills that rarely exist in adults and they may not be truly "mature" in mathematical understanding.

[edit] Physics

[edit] Mechanical engineering

  • Karl Benz: at the age of nine he started at the scientifically oriented Lyzeum, went on to study at the Poly-Technical University under the instruction of Ferdinand Redtenbacher, and at age fifteen he passed the entrance exam for mechanical engineering at the University of Karlsruhe

[edit] Medicine


[edit] Biology

  • Mark Jay Sheridan: Published paper on branches of Symbiosis at 10, received scholarship to California Institute of Technology at 13 and earned Ph.D by 17; now a well known biologist.

[17]

[edit] Psychology

[edit] The Arts

[edit] Acting/directing

Note: This section is mostly limited to child actors or directors who were respected enough to be nominated or win awards against adult competitors or who were declared prodigies. It also includes a few actors from eras predating film who were declared theatrical prodigies. This section must be limited in this way because being even an award-winning child actor is not, in itself, prodigious. (For child actors who won against juvenile competition see Academy Juvenile Award. These names do not necessarily equate to being competitive with adults and therefore do not necessarily fit as prodigies.)

[edit] Music

See List of music prodigies.

[edit] Literature

[edit] Visual arts

[edit] Humanities

[edit] Academics

[edit] Humane Letters: Leadership, Teaching, Evangelism

  • Adora Svitak: Born in 1997, by age 10 a noted author, humanitarian, teacher, and childrens' literature and literacy evangelist. She published her first book at age 7. She presents writing workshops to hundreds of children at a time, holding them in thrall with microphone, computer, and overhead projector.[54]
  • Aman Rehman: He made more than 1000 animated movies, beginnig at 3[55], and, at 8, he became the youngest college-lecturer in the world.[56]
  • Abdul Aleem Siddiqi: memorized the whole Qur'an at four, and made his first speech (in a mosque) at eight.
  • Mohammad Hossein Tabatabai: Born in 1991, he could recite the Qur'an at the age of two, and memorized it completly at 5. He was awarded a PhD from Coventry University in 1997.

[edit] Law/philosophy

[edit] Linguistics/translation

[edit] Sports and games

  • Fabiano Caruana: A chess prodigy discovered at age 5, that in 2007 at age 14 became the youngest ever America and Italian Grandmaster (Dual citizenship) [69]
  • José Raúl Capablanca: one of the best chess players of all time.
  • Freddy Adu: IMG Soccer Academy at age 12 and turned professional at 14.[70]
  • Cho Hunhyun: A professional go player at age 9.[71]
  • Fu Mingxia: A diver, referred to as a child prodigy by at least two sources,[72][73] and was an Olympic gold medalist at 13.
  • Willie Mosconi: Nicknamed "Mr. Pocket Billiards" he played professionals at age 6.[74]
  • Ronnie O'Sullivan: snooker player. Scored his first century break aged 10,[75] his first maximum at 15 and was youngest ever winner of a ranking event at 17.
  • Michelle Wie: Qualified for the USGA Women's Amateur Public Links at 10 and won the same event at 13, making her the youngest person both to qualify for and win a USGA adult national championship.[76]
  • Tiger Woods: He first won the Optimist International Junior tournament at age 8, playing in the 9-10 age group since there was no group for 8-year-olds at the time.[77][78]
  • Wayne Gretzky: At age 6 he was skating with 10-year-olds. By the age of ten he scored 378 goals and 139 assists in just 85 games with the Nadrofsky Steelers. [79]
  • Dominique Moceanu: Gymnast. Reached the elite level of the sport at age 9 and was performing beyond-Olympic level skills even earlier. Won the Senior US National Championships at age 13, the youngest to ever do so, and will forever hold that record, as the age limit for senior competitors has now been raised. Won an Olympic gold medal at age 14 with team.
  • Judith, Zsuzsa, and Zsófia Polgár: Chessplayers of Hungarian Jewish origin. Born between 1969 and 1976 the sisters reached their superior chess skills each before age 13, as a result of the experiment of their psychologist father László Polgár.
  • Nicholas Nip: Youngest ever USCF Chess Master with a rating of 2207 at age 9 years 11 months.
  • Ricky Rubio: Turned a professional basketball player at 14 and became the youngest player winning an Olympic Medal (silver at the 2008 Olympics).
  • Joshua Waitzkin: Chess Prodigy at age 6, and current Tai Chi Master. Made popular by movie Searching for Bobby Fischer.
  • Victor De Leon III: At age 6 years old Victor De Leon aka Lil Poison became the Youngest Professional Video Gamer in the World. He is enlisted in the 2008 and 2009 Guinness Book of World Record. At age 9 years old Lil Poison was seated 1st place in a 1 vs 1 video game challenge out of over 3500 competitors.[citation needed]

[edit] Legendary

This is for historic children who have become representatives of the "prodigy" phenomenon, inspiring literature on it, but whose actual accomplishments have not been firmly established due to the poor sourcing or records of their era.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] Web sources

  1. ^ Small Wonders
  2. ^ Joseph Dunn(2006). The Glories of Ireland. BiblioBazaar. p. 58
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ McTutor
  5. ^ The History of Computing
  6. ^ [2]
  7. ^ [3]
  8. ^ "10-Year-Old Calif. College Sophomore Avoids Term 'Genius,' Says It Is Just Hard Work". FOXNews.com. 2008-05-14. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,355603,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-05-23. 
  9. ^ INQUIRER.net, April 22, 2007. In college at 11, she’s UP summa cum laude at 16 [4]
  10. ^ Moskow News, issue 44, nov 4, 1984, page 14, «I want to be a Physic too.»
  11. ^ Time Magazine Asia
  12. ^ Time Magazine
  13. ^ [5]
  14. ^ [6]
  15. ^ Avicenna summary
  16. ^ Boy Wonder, Sho Yano Attends College At Age 10 - CBS News
  17. ^ [http://wunderkids.com/Ph.D50/biologists/bio/sheridan.html
  18. ^ Time Magazine
  19. ^ 1911 encyclopedia
  20. ^ Theatre History
  21. ^ Academy Awards Best Actor
  22. ^ a b c Academy Awards Best Supporting Actress
  23. ^ Turner Classic Movies
  24. ^ a b c Academy Awards Best Supporting Actor
  25. ^ Profiles for Genie Award nominees for best actress
  26. ^ Montreal Mirror
  27. ^ Book on Auntie Mame
  28. ^ Broadway Musical Home
  29. ^ [7]
  30. ^ The New Zealand Edge : Media / NEWZEDGE : Arts: Theatre: www.nzedge.com
  31. ^ Golden Globes official site - Trivia section
  32. ^ Time Magazine
  33. ^ New York Times
  34. ^ IMDB
  35. ^ On William Cullen Bryant
  36. ^ Chatterton, Thomas. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07
  37. ^ University of Delaware Library: Forging a Collection
  38. ^ Amir Khan, and Other Poems: The Remains of Lucretia Maria Davidson By Lucretia Maria Davidson
  39. ^ New November 04
  40. ^ Salon.com
  41. ^ Lope de Vega Carpio, Felix. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07
  42. ^ Lope de Vega (1562-1635)
  43. ^ Christianity Today
  44. ^ Jan Lievens (Getty Museum)
  45. ^ BBC
  46. ^ The Later Years of John Everett Millais's Portraits: Impressionistic Genius or Lazy self-indulgence?
  47. ^ abc7chicago.com: Child Prodigy Alexandra Nechita Continues to Grow as an Artist 11/18/05
  48. ^ ART REVIEW; Melancholy Chinese Painter Is Still an Enigma After 400 Years - New York Times
  49. ^ Encyclopedia Britannica
  50. ^ The Tennessean
  51. ^ ABC News
  52. ^ Virginia.edu
  53. ^ The Washington Post
  54. ^ Adora Svitak's Blog
  55. ^ BBC: Indian 'boy genius' shares skills
  56. ^ Youngest college lecturer-world record
  57. ^ Utilitarian.net
  58. ^ Baylor
  59. ^ New York Times
  60. ^ Saul Kripke, Genius Logician
  61. ^ Biography: John Stuart Mill, philosopher of utilitarianism, liberalism and precursor of feminism
  62. ^ New York Times
  63. ^ 7 Year Old Pakistani Genius to Get Free Higher Education
  64. ^ Eight Little Piggies: Reflections in Natural History by Stephen Jay Gould
  65. ^ Egyptology.com
  66. ^ a b Channel 4
  67. ^ [8]
  68. ^ University of Toronto
  69. ^ "Being a Grandmaster Is Tough When You Are Not Quite 15", The New York Times, 29 July 2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/29/crosswords/chess/29chess.html?_r=2&ref=crosswords&oref=slogin, retrieved on 2009-03-01 
  70. ^ Sports Illustrated
  71. ^ Sensei's Library
  72. ^ Sports Illustrated
  73. ^ Time Magazine
  74. ^ American Stories Archive
  75. ^ The Observer
  76. ^ Michelle Wie Timeline
  77. ^ BBC
  78. ^ CBS News
  79. ^ [9]
  80. ^ University of Calgary site

[edit] External links

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