Who is Jacob Barnett and What Makes Him So Special?

[Loren Booda]

Read between the lines: http://slatest.slate.com/id/2289409/"

 

[Andre]

Well it seems that he has that in common with Einstein and Newton

 

[humanino]

He is just great !

 

[Proton Soup]

speaking of Einstein, how come i don't know what he sounds like? his image is ubiquitous in our culture, but he is always silent.

 

[bp_psy]

speaking of Einstein, how come i don't know what he sounds like? his image is ubiquitous in our culture, but he is always silent.

 

[nismaratwork]

speaking of Einstein, how come i don't know what he sounds like? his image is ubiquitous in our culture, but he is always silent.

He shpoke a lot auf German, und Ingles vas not his forte?

 

[fourier jr]

Read between the lines: http://slatest.slate.com/id/2289409/"

A 12-year-old boy who's been taking advanced astrophysics classes at Indiana University since he was eight is trying to pick up where Einstein left off. Jacob Barnett has an IQ of 170, ten points higher than Einstein's. He is also mildly autistic, though the developmental disorder did not prevent him from teaching himself algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus in a week.

he has a developmental disorder?

 

[nismaratwork]

he has a developmental disorder?

Somehow I'm not shocked that someone so mathematically minded would be limited in areas of social expression, but I wonder if you can conclude that this is autism spectrum, or unique to a certain level of genius?

Certainly the performance given goes beyond mere savant behavior.

 

[Proton Soup]

thanks!

He shpoke a lot auf German, und Ingles vas not his forte?

still, you would expect more. kissinger sounds funny too, but i know what he sounds like. einstein was a rock star in his day, he even met marilyn monroe. you'd expect at least a few lectures on tape, something.

 

[nismaratwork]

thanks!



still, you would expect more. kissinger sounds funny too, but i know what he sounds like. einstein was a rock star in his day, he even met marilyn monroe. you'd expect at least a few lectures on tape, something.

From what I've read (Manjti Kumar talks about this) Einstein was not much of a lecturer, very informal an likeable, but, "often unprepared, making frequent errors." although he would ask his class to correct him graciously.

Who knows... the man was a unique kind of genius, maybe language just wasn't his forte, or maybe he had no interest? I truly don't know, but until you mentioned it I'd known about his reticence, but never considered it in the context of, "wow, I've never HEARD the man!"

 

[FtlIsAwesome]

It followed from the special theory of relativity that mass and energy are both but different manifestations of the same thing — a somewhat unfamiliar conception for the average mind. Furthermore, the equation E = mc², in which energy is put equal to mass, multiplied by the square of the velocity of light, showed that very small amounts of mass may be converted into a very large amount of energy and vice versa. The mass and energy were in fact equivalent, according to the formula mentioned before. This was demonstrated by Cockcroft and Walton in 1932, experimentally.

http://www.aip.org/history/einstein/sound/voice1.mp3

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

He is just great !

Boring!

I want to play NHL 2012!

 

[DR13]

Another Prodigy (physics)

Yeah... it seems like there is another prodigy. I don't know how smart he actually is. I would imagine some is just media hype but he obviously knows his stuff.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110329/ts_yblog_thelookout/for-12-year-old-astrophysics-prodigy-the-skys-the-limit

It would be cool for someone to do a study on kids that are labeled as a "prodigy". Then track their lives and see what actually happens to them. I wonder if there would be any correlation between future success and what field the prodigy works in (are physics prodigies more likely to develop than musical ones, or vice versa). Also, what would be the affect of family life: if you do not encourage they may not reach their potential, but over-encouragement leads to burnout.

 

[JaredJames]

All of these child prodigies is all well and good, but I've never heard of them again.

I watched a show a few years back that was going to "track their progress in the coming years" and it showed up once again - with a somewhat different 'cast' of children - and that was it.

I think they're pushed too hard, never get to have a childhood, and then burnout (possibly even down to the eventual freedom that is granted at college / university).

 

[lisab]

An extraordinary kid like him should be given what he needs to achieve his potential, but I doubt splashing around in the media will help him do so.

Impressive kid, though.

 

[Proton Soup]

what is he talking about with light accelerating sideways ?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110329/ts_yblog_thelookout/for-12-year-old-astrophysics-prodigy-the-skys-the-limit

 

[Proton Soup]

he may get bored with it in a few years and go into horticulture

 

[rootX]

he may get bored with it in a few years and go into horticulture

What is more interesting in horticulture?


(Personally, I have always found a CEO life more interesting than a prodigy life, not for their money but their execution skills .. never really wondered what a prodigy do with his life)

 

[Hepth]

what is he talking about with light accelerating sideways ?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110329/ts_yblog_thelookout/for-12-year-old-astrophysics-prodigy-the-skys-the-limit

Hes probably thinking of it "accelerating sideways" as curving around massive objects. Not really acceleration. I think he needs to learn GR before people say he's creating a new theory...

 

[Proton Soup]

What is more interesting in horticulture?

it will all be completely new. at the rate he's going, he'll have conquered the math and physics in a few years.

 

[turbo]

What is more interesting in horticulture?

Growing plants, especially vegetables and fruits. There is a lot of stuff that happens behind the scenes that most people have NO appreciation of. The food you eat doesn't grow on trees (often, anyway). If your closest connection to food is a meat-case or a produce-cooler at the local supermarket, you have a logical disconnect between what you do to live and what keeps you alive.

 

[rootX]

The point rather was if horticulture is interesting so is painting, music, history, philosophy, literature, economics ...

 

[HeLiXe]

This is really very inspiring :)

 

[Oerg]

How many of physics's greats were child prodigies? It's still too early to tell if he will amount to anything (relative to the most influential of physicists). Of course being a child prodigy in math is a different story.

 

[Newai]

So, when does he get a membership here?

 

[Ivan92]

If anyone is curious about his other videos, here is his Youtube Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/mathboysmom#p/a

This kid is just incredible! Amazing how much knowledge this kid has about Physics/Math. Others might question how much he knows, but you have to admit this kid might knows more than maybe a college student who is majoring in Physics. What level of Physics does this kid have? He knows his Quantum Mechanics, but I don't know what year in College you will have to be to learn it.

 

[HeLiXe]

What level of Physics does this kid have?

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.

Where I'm at, astrophysics is upper level undergrad stuff, usually third year. I'm not sure if the mention of "advanced" here denotes that he is beyond that though. It sure inspires me to stop being so mediocre

 

[Ivan92]

This kid is in Glenn Beck right now live. I just watched an interview between his parents and Jake. At 14 months, he started emptying out cereal breakfast and when he was able to communicate, his parents asked him why he was doing what he was doing. He said he was trying to figure out the volume of the boxes. Amazing!

Edit #2: Right now he is proving that an infinite series is convergent.

Edit #3:Right now, he is going to explain what he thinks about the Big Bang theory, and Glenn Beck is going to give him a gift. I predict whiteboards LOL.

 

[JaredJames]

This kid is in Glenn Beck right now live. I just watched an interview between his parents and Jake. At 14 months, he started emptying out cereal breakfast and when he was able to communicate, his parents asked him why he was doing what he was doing. He said he was trying to figure out the volume of the boxes. Amazing :)

That would imply he was taught and understood the concept, at 14 months. Good he may be, but sounds a bit far fetched.

 

[Lazernugget]

All of these child prodigies is all well and good, but I've never heard of them again.

I watched a show a few years back that was going to "track their progress in the coming years" and it showed up once again - with a somewhat different 'cast' of children - and that was it.

I think they're pushed too hard, never get to have a childhood, and then burnout (possibly even down to the eventual freedom that is granted at college / university).

I agree.

 

[Leptos]

He'll definitely be well above average, but it's too soon to say whether or not he'll at the top of the field he chooses.

I think Terrence Tao is the ultimate example of a true child prodigy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_Tao

Seriously, is there anyone who has accomplished as much as Tao has at his age?

 

[Simfish]

There are a lot more people who actually have these abilities - it's just that the public school system holds them back. The people you see in the news are lucky - many of them either had unusually flexible school systems, or parents who were willing to fight the school system.

I personally went to an early entrance program myself, and while the students in it were definitely above average (and won many awards for the university), they actually weren't necessarily the smartest people from their old middle schools.

 

[DR13]

There are a lot more people who actually have these abilities - it's just that the public school system holds them back. The people you see in the news are lucky - many of them either had unusually flexible school systems, or parents who were willing to fight the school system.

Do you have any data on this? I have a tough time believing what you say. If a child is teaching himself calculus at age 8, people will realize. Public school teachers arent morons. If most kids are doing 8*7 and another is doing LaPlace transforms, it would be impossible not to notice.

 

[JaredJames]

If most kids are doing 8*7 and another is doing LaPlace transforms, it would be impossible not to notice.

Assuming it's done in front of the teachers that is.

If the kid just does the work given, how is the teacher going to know? Perhaps they do it quicker than the others, but that's hardly going to raise major flags.

 

[DR13]

Assuming it's done in front of the teachers that is.

If the kid just does the work given, how is the teacher going to know? Perhaps they do it quicker than the others, but that's hardly going to raise major flags.

True. But the fact is *someone* will have to notice (kids are monitored after all). If the parents found out, I'm sure they would alert the teachers.