Genius
Originally genius isterm from Roman mythology, see: genius (mythology). The modern meaning ofworddifferent; see below.
In general usage,geniuseitherpolymath orperson giftedparticular talents, mainly regarding intelligence. Most people thinkintellectual geniuses but theresocial geniuses (for example Oscar Wilde)athletic geniuses.
Termreservedthoseextraordinary talent that goes far beyond whatnon-genuis could ever hopeachieve. Geniuses often make huge original leapstheir fieldwork, rather than just extending previous workthat field.
Among persons widely called geniuses are:
- Archimedes (mathematician)
- Johann Sebastian Bach (composer)
- Ludwig van Beethoven (composer)
- Charles Darwin (biologist)
- Rene Descartes (mathematicianphilosopher)
- Thomas Alva Edison (inventor)
- Albert Einstein (theoretical physicist)
- Paul Erdös (mathematician)
- Richard P. Feynman (physicist)
- Benjamin Franklin (inventor, diplomat, political scientist)
- Sigmund Freud (psychologist)
- Evariste Galois (mathematician)
- Carl Friedrich Gauss (mathematician)
- Murray Gell-Mann (physicist)
- Stephen Hawking (cosmologist)
- Thomas Jefferson, (statesman, philospher)
- James Joyce (writer)
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (composer)
- Isaac Newton (physicist)
- Blaise Pascal (mathematician)
- Plato (philosopher)
- Ramanujan (mathematician)
- William Shakespeare (playwrite)
- Nikola Tesla (electrical engineerphysicist)
- Alan Turing (mathematician)
- Vincent Van Gogh (painter)
- Leonardo da Vinci (inventorartist)
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (writerpoet)
- Frank Lloyd Wright (architect)
References
Harold Bloom, Genius: A MosaicOne Hundred Exemplary Creative Minds, Warner Books
James Gleick, Genius : The LifeScienceRichard Feynman, Vintage
Clifford A. Pickover, Strange BrainsGenius, Quill
