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 »
When I was an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto, enrolled in a special course titled, “Mathematics, Physics & Chemistry,” we had some outstanding professors who were also showmen, in the style of Richard Feynman. Every Christmas they would put on a demonstration called “A Christmas Box Lecture.” It was an annual ritual on …
What makes a physics demonstration effective for teaching complex concepts? Read More »
John von Neumann was born on December 28, 1903, in Budapest, Hungary. John (baptized as János) was readily recognized as a child prodigy, possessing an eidetic memory and at age 6 displayed the ability to divide two eight-digit numbers in his head. His family often entertained guests with demonstrations of his prodigious memory. The guests …
How did von Neumann’s perfect memory affect his research and teaching methods? Read More »
The most widely-used IQ tests are the Wechsler, the Stanford-Binet and the Raven’s Progressive Matrices tests. Wechsler (WAIS III and WAIS IV) In 1955, American psychologist David Wechsler published a new intelligence test that became known as the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). He defined intelligence as “the global capacity of a person to act …
What are the different categories measured in standard IQ tests? Read More »
Cooperative learning in schools involves placing students in groups to discuss and work together toward the solution of a particular problem. For example, students in a middle school might be asked to estimate the weight of a large cylindrical shipping container full of golf balls, given the dimensions of the cylinder, and the diameter and …
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Our intuition is a wonderful source of ideas for innovations, general judgments and quick assessments. However, what it provides us in fast and frugal modes of thinking, it lacks in precision and scope because it is compiled from our internalized experiences. Consequently, it is often incorrect, especially when dealing with realms like quantum physics where …
Why do scientists prefer mathematical explanations over intuitive ones? Read More »
Exactly 64 years ago today, John F. Kennedy was inaugurated at the 35th President of the United States. On May 25 of that year, he promised to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade. The USSR had launched a satellite in 1957 and the US was about to invest a …
There are many examples of scientists who used everyday objects to solve complex problems. I will share only two in this post but there are many more than most people realize. In 1941, George de Mestral after taking his dog for a walk in the woods, discovered that the dog’s fur was full of burrs. …
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There are to my knowledge, no recent studies of the IQs of the top scientists or intellectuals, because most scientists have not made public their IQ scores, that may have been taken when they were in school. A relatively small number of IQs of scientists and intellectuals in other areas are available. (For example, Richard …
What are the most recent studies measuring IQ of top scientists and intellectuals? Read More »
