William James Sidis (1898-1944)
This mathematician has often been referred to as the “smartest person who ever lived on this planet.” According to his sister, a psychologist estimated him to have an IQ between 250 and 300. Records of his childhood told about how he was able to read newspapers at 18 months, spoke several languages at an early age, lectured at Harvard at age 12, as well as invented his own language. The invention of the language doesn't impress me the most, as I think many kids do, or attempt to do, something like that. However, not many lecture on four-dimensional geometry at Harvard at the age of 12 or write four books as a child. In 1914 he graduated cum laude, 16 years old.
OK, he was a genius, but somehow it didn't come to much in the long run. That is, not much as to an academical career, because he seems to have been very diligent in his studies, and he published many books and articles under various pseudonyms as he hated being in the focus of the public.
His many topics ranged from Native American history, urban transportation systems, mathematics and cosmology. He often felt that he and his ideas were not understood by his contemporaries, and I suppose he was right. Living in seclusion, even extolling it as necessary for him, makes it more understandable that he ended up a penniless office clerk and not "The King of Academics" he seemed to be born to become. He didn't fit in, and may have been depressed.
In 1944 he died from a brain hemorrhage, which may have been brought on by his legal troubles after suing "The New Yorker" for a story about him, "April Fool", which he felt was humiliating by pointing out his lack of success after having been a child prodigy.
https://medium.com/@keriannesheree/a-tortured-genius-bce8c03a109a
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19750232/william-james-sidis
Wikipedia
Ingen kommentarer:
Send en kommentar