Notable Achievement: The first woman to win a Nobel Prize and just for good measure, she won two Marie Curie (1867-1934)Īreas of Expertise: Physics, chemistry and radioactivity Afterward, Pope Benedict XIV wrote Agnesi, commending her work and suggesting her for a post at the University of Bologna. Fortunately, in between breaking up slap fights and doling out bowls of spaghetti, the 30-year-old Agnesi managed to compose a highly influential, two-volume manual on mathematics that included cutting edge developments like integral and differential calculus. But thanks to her father's second and third marriages, Agnesi eventually found herself in charge of a household of 20 brothers and sisters, and since she was the oldest, she ended up utilizing more of those Home Ec skills than she had anticipated. By age 13, when a visitor would ask her for a waltz, Agnesi would treat her dance partner to a discussion of Newton's theory of gravity (a second waltz was a rare request). By the time she was nine, Agnesi was impressing party guests with speeches she'd translated into Latin. Thankfully, her father, himself a mathematician, recognized Maria's amazing memory and talent for languages and decided that something like literacy might be a good thing for his daughter. When Maria Gaetana Agnesi was born in Milan in 1718, girls in upper-class Italian society were taught dressmaking, etiquette and religion, but not how to read. Secret to Her Success: Time management she was known to write the solutions to difficult math problems in her sleep (literally) Notable Achievement: Proving that chicks are good at math, too Maria Agnesi (1718-1799)Īreas of Expertise: Mathematics and astronomy By the time of his death, he'd created over 22,000 works of art. Picasso's many contributions to modern art-including cubism, "Guernica," and people drawn with two eyes on one side of their face-are too exhaustive to list here. ![]() Years later, the adult Picasso attended an exhibit of children's drawings and commented that he could never have been in such a show because at age 12, he "drew like Raphael." A little modesty might have done him some good, but in fact, drawings that survive from his childhood suggest that prepubescent Pablo could indeed have given the great Renaissance artist a run for his money. Fortunately, the headmaster and the other students recognized Picasso's gift, and more or less allowed him to come, go, and work as he pleased. And when he became old enough to go to school, pushy little Pablo said he would only go on the condition that, while there, he could draw as much as he liked. Perhaps that's why, once he finally could talk, he immediately started demanding that his father (an artist himself) give him his paintbrushes. In fact, it's said that Picasso had an interest in drawing even before he could speak. Secret to His Success: Quantity and qualityĮveryone knows that Picasso achieved artistic fame and success as an adult, but little Pablo was quite the prodigy, too. Notable Achievement: The most famous name in modern art 2. Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)Īreas of Expertise: Painting, drawing, sculpture His contributions to philosophy include the famous "Pascal's Wager," which states that believing in God costs you nothing if you're wrong, and wins you everything if you're right. Besides publishing influential treatises in geometry, Pascal made significant contributions in physical science, like experimenting with atmospheric pressure and determining that a vacuum exists outside Earth's atmosphere. Fortunately, that didn't send him spiraling into child-burnout depression, and he went on to many more years of scientific achievement. By age 19, Pascal had begun to develop a hand-held, mechanical calculator, which might have made him rich if it hadn't proved impractical to mass produce (a big relief to the abacus industry). But even Pascal senior couldn't help but be impressed when his son recreated the geometry theories of Euclid, so he started taking young Poindexter to weekly meetings with the elite mathematicians of Paris. The great French thinker Blaise Pascal began studying geometry at age 12, even though his father had forbidden such academic endeavors and removed all mathematics textbooks from the house. Secret to His Success: Doing geometry when his dad wasn't looking Notable Achievement: Making a bet with God Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)Īreas of Expertise: Math, physical science, and philosophy ![]() ![]() Here are some wonder boys and girls who bucked the trend and grew up to be smart cookies. But if you or someone you love happens to be a budding brainiac, don't despair. The road from kid genius to adult dud is a well-traveled one.
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