Yes, there are several known, and probably many more unknown cases in which a student has done poorly or failed tests and gone on to achieve greatness. I will provide three examples: one who failed in elementary school, and two who failed at higher levels. On February 11, 1847, Thomas Alva Edison was born in …
Although there is no record of Einstein ever taking an IQ test, it’s unlikely that he would have been interested in this measure of his intelligence, because he believed that intelligence was more closely aligned to passionate curiosity. Walter Isaacson, in his biography of Einstein, titled, Einstein: His Life and Universe, (p. 548) reported that …
Did Einstein ever know his IQ was higher than others and did he ever boast about it? Read More »
Research has revealed that there is a great deal of variation among individuals in their ages of peak performance, some achieving eminence before age 30 and others decades later. Furthermore, certain cognitive abilities continue to increase throughout life, while others decline. Reporting on their recent findings, the researchers at MIT’s Department of Brain and Cognitive …
Most highly intelligent people, acutely aware of the absurdities of life, express themselves in humor that is sometimes playful and often sardonic. Laughter provides a natural release for the psychological stress that comes from prolonged intense focus. Richard Feynman was famous for his jokes and pranks. During his childhood, he collected stamps and among his …
In November 2011, 68-year-old physicist Paul Frampton was feeling lonely and despondent. Years of chasing top-dog status among Nobel laureates in elementary particle physics had left him without a family, and languishing in the emptiness of a life devoid of relationships. Since his divorce 3 years earlier from Anne-Marie, his only connections to the outer …
William Cowper in his long poem, The Task, (Book II, The Timepiece: line 606) published in 1785, states, “Variety’s the very spice of life; That gives it all its flavor.” In this, Cowper recognizes the richness that comes from a variety of different styles and colors in the tapestry of life. This applies not only …
Yes, they met only once and it was in the early 1940s at a seminar organized by Eugene Wigner. The physicists invited to this seminar read like a Who’s Who? of top theoretical physicists of the time. It included John von Neumann, Wolfgang Pauli, and Albert Einstein who was at the Institute for Advanced Study …
Artificial intelligence (AI) is encroaching on human intelligence, one step at a time, causing people to wonder whether the AI machines will eventually become sentient and take control of our world. As our species increasingly embraced the power of rational thinking, we began to develop machines that could simulate rational thought. Beginning at first as …
A person who excels in theoretical physics has demonstrated the capacity for abstraction required in chemistry, biology and mathematics, because theoretical physics requires a high level of competence in several branches of mathematics. However, that does not imply that a theoretical physicist has the knowledge to contribute to research on the frontiers of mathematics. Albert …
