In psychology research literature, the term

child prodigy A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to young people who are extraor ...

is defined as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain to the level of an adult expert professional.

Mathematics and science

Mathematics

Blaise Pascal Blaise Pascal ( , , ; ; 19 June 1623 – 19 August 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic Church, Catholic writer. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen. Pa ...

(1623–1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, and religious philosopher who wrote a treatise on vibrating bodies at the age of nine; he wrote his first proof, on a wall with a piece of coal, at the age of 11 years, and a theorem by the age of 16 years. He is famous for

Pascal's theorem In projective geometry, Pascal's theorem (also known as the ''hexagrammum mysticum theorem'') states that if six arbitrary points are chosen on a conic (which may be an ellipse, parabola or hyperbola in an appropriate affine plane) and joined by ...

and many other contributions in mathematics, philosophy, and

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

. *

Lev Landau Lev Davidovich Landau (russian: Лев Дави́дович Ланда́у; 22 January 1908 – 1 April 1968) was a Soviet- Azerbaijani physicist of Jewish descent who made fundamental contributions to many areas of theoretical physics. His a ...

(1908–1968) was a Soviet physicist who mastered calculus by age 13. He graduated from the Baku Gymnasium aged only 13 as well. Landau is today best known for his work in

superconductivity Superconductivity is a set of physical properties observed in certain materials where electrical resistance vanishes and magnetic flux fields are expelled from the material. Any material exhibiting these properties is a superconductor. Unlike ...

and a series of textbooks he co-authored with

Evgeny Lifshitz Evgeny Mikhailovich Lifshitz (russian: Евге́ний Миха́йлович Ли́фшиц; February 21, 1915, Kharkiv, Russian Empire – October 29, 1985, Moscow, Russian SFSR) was a leading Soviet physicist and brother of the physicist ...

. *

John von Neumann John von Neumann (; hu, Neumann János Lajos, ; December 28, 1903 – February 8, 1957) was a Hungarian-American mathematician, physicist, computer scientist, engineer and polymath. He was regarded as having perhaps the widest cove ...

(1903–1957) was a "mental calculator" by the age of six years, who could tell jokes in classical Greek. Von Neumann went on to make numerous contributions to mathematics, economics, physics, and computer science. (Note: Several mathematicians were

mental calculator Human calculator is a term to describe a person with a prodigious ability in some area of mental calculation (such as adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing large numbers). The world's best mental calculators are invited every two yea ...

s when they were still children. Mental calculation is not to be confused with mathematics. This section is for child prodigies largely or primarily known for calculating skills.)

The arts

Music

See

List of child music prodigies A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain to the level of an adult expert performer. This is a list of young children (under age 10) who displayed a ...

for examples.

Literature

William Cullen Bryant William Cullen Bryant (November 3, 1794 – June 12, 1878) was an American romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the ''New York Evening Post''. Born in Massachusetts, he started his career as a lawyer but showed an interest in poetry ...

published his first poem at the age of 10; at the age of 13 years, he published a book of political satire poems. *

Minou Drouet Marie-Noëlle Drouet, known as Minou Drouet (born 24 July 1947), of La Guerche-de-Bretagne, France, is a former poet, musician, and actor. Biography Drouet gained fame in 1955 when some of her poems and letters circulated privately among Frenc ...

caught the notice of French critics at the age of eight, leading to speculation that her mother was the true author of her poetry. She later proved herself to be the author."Kitten on the Keys"

''

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...

'' Jan 28, 1957.

Visual arts

Edmund Thomas Clint Edmund Thomas Clint (19 May 1976 — 15 April 1983) was an Indian child prodigy known for having drawn over 25,000 paintings during his life of less than seven years. Background Clint was the lone son of Late M.T. Joseph and Chinnamma Joseph ...

(1976–1983) was an Indian child prodigy. He is known for having drawn over 25,000 paintings, though he lived to be just six years and 11 months old.

Games

Chess

See

Chess prodigy The term chess prodigy refers to a young child who possesses an aptitude for the game of chess that far exceeds what might be expected at their age. Their prodigious talent will often enable them to defeat experienced adult players and even title ...

for details of child prodigies at chess.

Go

* Sumire Nakamura was competing in national Go tournaments in Japan by the time she was seven, and became the youngest professional go player at age 10.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Child prodigies (list) Lists of children