Ironically, this question is received on the birthday of one of the most famous living prodigies, Terrence Tao. Terence Tao, was born on July 17, 1975, in Adelaide, Australia. From an early age, he displayed exceptional mathematical abilities and was considered a child prodigy. By the age of 14, he had become the youngest gold medalist in the history of the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO).
Tao pursued his undergraduate studies at Flinders University in Adelaide, earning his bachelor’s degree in mathematics at the age of 16 and completed his Ph.D. in mathematics at the age of 21. After completing his Ph.D., Tao held various positions at prestigious institutions around the world, and he currently holds the position of James and Carol Collins Chair in Mathematics at UCLA.
In 2006, Tao became the first Australian mathematician to receive the Fields Medal, widely considered the Nobel Prize of mathematics. He received this prestigious award for his groundbreaking contributions to partial differential equations, combinatorics, and harmonic analysis.
Another prodigy, Soborno Bari, was featured on The Voice of America in 2014, when only 2 years of age, demonstrating how to solve graduate-level chemistry problems. The video went viral and Bari was given the middle name “Isaac” to suggest that he might be the next Isaac Newton. At the age of 4, Soborno Isaac Bari received a letter from former U. S. President, Barack Obama acknowledging his special achievements in mathematics and science. On January 3, 2020, Bari received the Global Child Prodigy Award from Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi. On January 4, 2020, Bari, at 8 years of age served as a visiting professor at the University of Mumbai.
Prodigies also surface in music, and chess. In November 2016, Anatoly Karpov, who reigned as the World Chess Champion from 1993 through 1999, appeared on Russian television in what was billed as a dramatic chess match. His opponent Misha Osipov, an infant of 31/2 years, and barely out of diapers, appeared amidst the sensational pomp and circumstance designed to dramatize his prodigy. When the introductions were over, the blitz game began. (The format of the game was speed chess with Misha allotted a cumulative time limit of 10 minutes, while Karpov was allotted only 2 minutes). Misha charmed the audience with his adult-like behavior. When the 66-year-old Grandmaster asked him what opening he was using, the focussed infant responded nonchalantly, “the Nimzo-Indian Defence.”
In spite of all the television hype, it was clear that Misha had not only learned how to play chess extremely well, but he had also read books and internalized some of the opening moves of the modern Grandmasters. Though the game appeared to be in a deadlock, Misha’s clock ran out first and victory fell to Karpov. Unable to control his disappointment, little Misha wept and ran sobbing to “Mommy.” He was, after all, emotionally an infant, performing at a high level in an adult world. When he was called on stage to receive a gold medal, suspended around his neck with a scarlet ribbon and presented with a book autographed by Grandmaster Karpov, he smiled and ran to his mother to celebrate his new trophy and prepare for a brilliant future.
The next year Misha defeated Russia’s 95-year-old Grandmaster Yuri Averbakh, becoming the youngest player ever to defeat a Grandmaster. As chess champion David Hill observed: (Visit: The Search for the Next Chess Prodigy )
Both [Sergey] Karjakin and [Magnus] Carlsen were chess prodigies themselves, and Karjakin holds the record for being the youngest player to become a grandmaster [at 12 years and 7 months]. Neither of them could play chess at the age of 3.
Parents of young prodigies often protect their children from excessive publicity in order to avoid the social problems that bright children encounter when they receive too much adulation at an early age. Some people suggest that this is why we don’t hear more about prodigies.
