The New Face of Child Prodigy

[Woodsprite]

This may have already been reported a while back; I'm not sure. But we have a new Albert Einstein in the midst of our world.

And he's 12 years old.

In some ways, Jacob Barnett is just like any other 12-year-old kid. He plays Guitar Hero, shoots hoops with his friends, and has a platonic girlfriend.

But in other ways, he's a little different. Jake, who has an IQ of 170, began solving 5,000-piece jigsaw puzzles at the age of 3, not long after he'd been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism. A few years later, he taught himself calculus, algebra, and geometry in two weeks. By 8, he had left high school, and is currently taking college-level advanced astrophysics classes—while tutoring his older classmates. And he's being recruited for a paid researcher job by Indiana University.

Now, he's at work on a theory that challenges the Big Bang—the prevailing explanation among scientists for how the universe came about. It's not clear how developed it is, but experts say he's asking the right questions.

"The theory that he's working on involves several of the toughest problems in astrophysics and theoretical physics," Scott Tremaine of Princeton University's Institute for Advanced Studies—where Einstein (pictured) himself worked—wrote in an email to Jake's family. "Anyone who solves these will be in line for a Nobel Prize."

For 12-year old astrophysics prodigy, the sky’s the limit - Yahoo! News

My theory: he's been on the NZT pill since age 3.

[Icu]

I think it's a little early to call him an Albert Einstein. As smart as he obviously is, there are plenty of people on Earth with IQs that high.

He'll have to do something awesome with it first

And with that said, let's hope he does.

[Unilyu]

Holy crap did I read that title wrong. Anyway, what it actually says is much better.

[Human No More]

I agree with what Icu said

Still a good thing though

[ISV Venture Star]

Good luck to him. Many child prodigies burn out and never achieve their full potential. A few change the world for the better. Let's hope he's one of the latter.

[Woodsprite]

Originally Posted by Icu

I think it's a little early to call him an Albert Einstein. As smart as he obviously is, there are plenty of people on Earth with IQs that high.

True... but how many are 12 years old and tutoring college students twice his age?

[Sonoran Na'vi]

It would be wonderful if he did become the next Einstein. The thing is is that there have been and are plenty of people who are smarter than Einstein if we go by the measurement of IQ. What Einstein was able to do was blend creativity with his intelligence to gain insights never before seen. If this child is able to do what Einstein did, then he may be able to offer insights ahead of their time to us.