When I was a teenager, I believed that highly educated and intelligent people were “smart” in all things. In graduate school, I had a chance to discuss ideas with some of the brightest people on the planet, but was often surprised at their depth of belief in a particular political or religious doctrine. Although their …
My answer will include Fields Medal winners as well as Nobel Prize winners because there is no Nobel for mathematics and the Fields Medal is comparable to the Nobel Prize. Nobel Prize in Physics The average age at which a physicist wins the Nobel Prize is 59 years, so many of the recent winners of …
Ravi Vakil, the Robert Grimmett Professor in Mathematics at Stanford University, began his two-year term as President of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) on February 1, 2025. Vakil, a foremost researcher in the field of algebraic geometry has played a strong role in promoting mathematical research as well as mathematical education. You may recognize him …
“Mathematics is at the center of Science & Knowledge.” Read More »
Many academically intelligent people succeed brilliantly in life, while others perform modestly, and still others achieve little and live an unfulfilling life. Those who win Nobel Prizes, become billionaire entrepreneurs or world-class surgeons, almost always come from the academically intelligent class of people. Furthermore, many of those who enjoy lives of quality, fulfilled by family, …
Why do many academically intelligent people struggle to succeed in life? Read More »
Since antiquity, it has been recognized that most of us increase our intellectual productivity throughout early adulthood, reach a peak in middle age, and decline in mental acuity as we move into old age. However, recent research has revealed that there is a great deal of variation, especially among highly intelligent individuals in their ages …
There are two main reasons why the achievements of our modern mathematical superstars are not as conspicuous as those of the great mathematicians of the past. • In the past two centuries, mathematical discoveries have grown at an exponential rate. • Much mathematical research today is conducted through collaboration, so credit is shared among several …
The most frequently cited qualities associated with highly intelligent individuals are: curiosity, open-mindedness, critical thinking ability, capacity for abstraction, adaptability, etc. However, the key question is, “How do we assess these qualities without access to instruments such as IQ tests?” The human resources people at Microsoft and other companies designed questions to determine the intelligence …
Science has confirmed what people have observed since the Ancient Greek author Homer wrote in 725 BCE: So, the gods don’t hand out all their gifts at once, not build and brains and flowing speech to all. One man may fail to impress us with his looks but a god can crown his words with …
The talents of many of the world’s greatest achievers were manifest early in their childhood years.One of the most famous was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. By the age of five, he was already composing his own music, and by seven, he was performing for royalty across Europe. His genius in music composition and performance was evident …
A very comprehensive answer to this problem was given by the great mathematician Henri Poincaré at the beginning of the 20th century when he described the role of the subconscious in mathematical problem solving. In a speech delivered to the Société de Psychologie in 1908, Poincaré described his unconscious mental activity that exploded in a …
How do intuitive answers manifest in your mind when solving complex problems? Read More »
