Daniel Tammet (born Daniel Paul Corney; 31 January 1979) is an English writer and

savant Savant syndrome ( , ) is a phenomenon where someone demonstrates exceptional aptitude in one domain, such as art or mathematics, despite significant social or intellectual impairment. Those with the condition generally have a neurodevel ...

. His memoir, ''Born on a Blue Day'' (2006), is about his early life with

Asperger syndrome Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's syndrome or Asperger's, is a diagnostic label that has historically been used to describe a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and no ...

and

savant syndrome Savant syndrome ( , ) is a phenomenon where someone demonstrates exceptional aptitude in one domain, such as art or mathematics, despite significant social or intellectual impairment. Those with the condition generally have a neurodevel ...

, and was named a "Best Book for Young Adults" in 2008 by the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

's ''

Young Adult Library Services ''Young Adult Library Services'' () is a quarterly magazine published by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). It supersedes the ''Journal of Youth Services'', which was published together with the Association for Library Service ...

'' magazine. Tammet's second book, ''Embracing the Wide Sky'', was one of France's best-selling books of 2009. His third book, ''Thinking in Numbers'', was published in 2012 by

Hodder & Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.H ...

in the United Kingdom and in 2013 by

Little, Brown and Company Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries, it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emil ...

in the United States and Canada. Tammet's books have been published in over 20 languages. Tammet was elected in 2012 to serve as a

fellow of the Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

Personal life

Tammet was born Daniel Paul Corney on 31 January 1979. He was the eldest of nine children and was raised in

Barking and Dagenham The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham () is a London borough in East London. The borough was created in 1965 as the London Borough of Barking; the name was changed in 1980. It is an Outer London borough and the south is within the London R ...

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

. As a young child, Tammet had

epileptic seizures A seizure is a sudden, brief disruption of brain activity caused by abnormal, excessive, or synchronous neuronal firing. Depending on the regions of the brain involved, seizures can lead to changes in movement, sensation, behavior, awareness, o ...

, which remitted following medical treatment. Tammet participated twice in the

World Memory Championships The World Memory Championships is an organized competition of memory sports in which competitors memorize as much information as possible within a given period of time. The championship has taken place annually since 1991, with the exception of ...

in London under his birth name, placing 11th in 1999 and fourth in 2000. Tammet changed his birth name by

deed poll A deed poll (plural: deeds poll) is a legal document binding on a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an intention or create an obligation. It is a deed, and not a contract, because it binds only one party. Etymology Th ...

because "it didn't fit with the way he saw himself", according to The Guardian. He took the

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

surname ''Tammet'', which is related to "oak trees". At age 25, Tammet was diagnosed with

Simon Baron-Cohen Sir Simon Philip Baron-Cohen (born 15 August 1958) is a British clinical psychologist and professor of developmental psychopathology at the University of Cambridge. He is the director of the university's Autism Research Centre and a Fellow of ...

of the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Autism Research Centre The Autism Research Centre (ARC) is a research institute that is a part of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge, England. ARC's research goal is to understand the biomedical causes of autism spectrum conditions, to evaluat ...

. He is one of fewer than a hundred "prodigious savants" according to

Darold Treffert Darold A. Treffert (March 12, 1933 – December 14, 2020) was an American psychiatrist and research director who specialized in the epidemiology of autism spectrum disorders and savant syndrome. He lived in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. He was on the s ...

, the world's leading researcher in the study of

. Tammet was the subject of a documentary film titled ''Extraordinary People: The Boy with the Incredible Brain'', first broadcast on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

on 23 May 2005. Tammet met software engineer Neil Mitchell in 2000 and they started a relationship. They lived in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. He and Mitchell operated the online

e-learning Educational technology (commonly abbreviated as edutech, or edtech) is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and educational theory and practice to facilitate learning and teaching. When referred to with its abbreviation, "EdTech" ...

company Optimnem, where they created and published language courses. Tammet now lives in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

with his husband Jérôme Tabet, a photographer whom he met while promoting his autobiography. Tammet is a graduate of the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree with

first-class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

in the humanities.

Career

In 2002, Tammet launched the website, Optimnem. The site offered language courses (as of 2015, French and Spanish) and had been an approved member of the UK

National Grid for Learning The National Grid for Learning (NGfL) was a United Kingdom, UK government-funded gateway to educational resources on the Internet. It provided a curated collection of links to resources and materials of high quality. The NGfL was established to su ...

since 2006. The website has been offline since January 2022, as of November 2023 redirecting to a "domain is for sale" page. ''Born on a Blue Day'' received international media attention and critical praise. ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is ...

'' magazine contributing reviewer Ray Olson stated that Tammet's autobiography was "as fascinating as

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

's and

John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, politician and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of liberalism and social liberalism, he contributed widely to s ...

's" and that Tammet wrote "some of the clearest prose this side of Hemingway". ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' stated that the book "transcends the disability memoir genre". For his US book tour, Tammet appeared on several television and radio talk shows and specials, including ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...

'' and the ''

Late Show with David Letterman ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...

''. In February 2007, ''Born on a Blue Day'' was serialised as

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

's ''Book of the Week'' in the United Kingdom. Tammet's second book, ''Embracing the Wide Sky'', was published in 2009.

Allan Snyder Allan Whitenack Snyder (born 1942) is the director of the Centre for the Mind at the University of Sydney, Australia where he also holds the 150th Anniversary Chair of Science and the Mind. He is a co-founder of Emotiv Systems and winner of t ...

, director of the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

Centre for the Mind, called the work 'an extraordinary and monumental achievement'. Tammet argues that savant abilities are not "supernatural" but "an outgrowth" of "natural, instinctive ways of thinking about numbers and words". He suggests that the brains of savants can to some extent be retrained, and that normal brains could be taught to develop some savant abilities. ''Thinking in Numbers'', a collection of essays, was first published in 2012 and serialised as

's ''Book of the Week'' in the United Kingdom. Tammet's translation into French of a selection of poetry by Les Murray was published by L'Iconoclaste in France in 2014. Tammet's first novel, ''Mishenka'', was published in France and Quebec in 2016. ''Every Word Is a Bird We Teach to Sing'', a collection of essays on language, was published in the UK, US, and France in 2017. In a review of the book for ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'',

Brad Leithauser Brad E. Leithauser (born February 27, 1953) is an American poet, novelist, essayist, and teacher. After serving as the Emily Dickinson Lecturer in the Humanities at Mount Holyoke College and visiting professor at the MFA Program for Poets & W ...

noted that "in terms of literary genres, something new and enthralling is going on inside his books" and that the author showed "a grasp of language and a sweep of vocabulary that any poet would envy". ''Portraits'', a bilingual first poetry collection, was published in French and English in 2018. Written in French as a letter to a non-believing friend, the creative non-fiction work ''Fragments de paradis'' ("Fragments of Heaven") was published in France and Canada in 2020.

Scientific study

After the World Memory Championships, Tammet participated in a group study, later published in the New Year 2003 edition of ''

Nature Neuroscience ''Nature Neuroscience'' is a monthly scientific journal published by Nature Publishing Group. Its focus is original research papers relating specifically to neuroscience and was established in May 1998. The chief editor is Shari Wiseman. According ...

''. The researchers investigated the reasons for the memory champions' superior performance. They reported that he used "strategies for encoding information with the sole purpose of making it more memorable", and concluded that superior memory was not driven by exceptional intellectual ability or differences in brain structure. In another study, Baron-Cohen and others at the Autism Research Centre tested Tammet's abilities in around 2005. Tammet was found to have

synaesthesia Synesthesia (American English) or synaesthesia (British English) is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People with sy ...

, according to the "Test of Genuineness-Revised", which tests the subjects' consistency in reporting descriptions of their synaesthesia. He performed well on tests of short-term memory (with a digit-span of 11.5, where 6.5 is typical). Conversely, test results showed his memory for faces scored at the level expected of a 6- to 8-year-old child in this task. The authors of the study speculated that his savant memory could be a result of synaesthesia combined with

, or it could be the result of

mnemonic A mnemonic device ( ), memory trick or memory device is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval in the human memory, often by associating the information with something that is easier to remember. It makes use of e ...

strategies. In a further study published in ''Neurocase'' in 2008, Baron-Cohen, Bor, and Billington investigated whether Tammet's synaesthesia and Asperger syndrome explained his savant memory abilities. They concluded that his abilities might be explained by hyperactivity in one brain region (the left

prefrontal cortex In mammalian brain anatomy, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) covers the front part of the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex. It is the association cortex in the frontal lobe. The PFC contains the Brodmann areas BA8, BA9, BA10, BA11, BA12, ...

), which results from his Asperger syndrome and synaesthesia. On the Navon task, relative to non-autistic controls, Tammet was found to be faster at finding a target at the local level and to be less distracted by interference from the global level. In an

fMRI Functional magnetic resonance imaging or functional MRI (fMRI) measures brain activity by detecting changes associated with blood flow. This technique relies on the fact that cerebral blood flow and neuronal activation are coupled. When an area o ...

scan, "Tammet did not activate extra-striate regions of the brain normally associated with synaesthesia, suggesting that he has an unusual and more abstract and conceptual form of synaesthesia". Published in ''Cerebral Cortex'' (2011), an fMRI study led by Jean-Michel Hupé at the

University of Toulouse The University of Toulouse (, ) is a community of universities and establishments ( ComUE) based in Toulouse, France. Originally it was established in 1229, making it one of the earliest universities to emerge in Europe. Suppressed during the ...

(France) observed no activation of colour areas in ten synaesthetes. Hupé suggests that synaesthetic colour experience lies not in the brain's colour system, but instead results from "a complex construction of meaning in the brain, involving not only perception, but language, memory and emotion". In his book ''

Moonwalking with Einstein ''Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything'' is a nonfiction book by Joshua Foer, first published in 2011. ''Moonwalking with Einstein'' debuted at number 3 on the ''New York Times'' bestseller list and stayed on ...

'' (2011),

Joshua Foer Joshua Foer (born September 23, 1982) is a freelance journalist and author living in Brookline, Massachusetts, with a primary focus on science. He was the 2006 USA Memory Champion, which was described in his 2011 book, '' Moonwalking with Eins ...

, a science journalist and former US Memory Champion, speculates that Tammet's study of conventional mnemonic approaches has played a role in the savant's feats of memory. While accepting that Tammet meets the standard definition of a prodigious savant, Foer suggests that his abilities may simply reflect intensive training using memory techniques, rather than any abnormal psychology or neurology. In a review of his book for ''The New York Times'', psychologist

Alexandra Horowitz Alexandra Horowitz is a Senior Research Fellow and Adjunct Associate Professor within the English and Psychology Departments at Barnard College. Horowitz is the director of the Horowitz Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard. She is the author of the The N ...

described Foer's speculation as among the few "missteps" in his book. She questioned whether it would matter if Tammet had used such strategies or not.

Savantism

Tammet has been studied by researchers in Britain and the United States, and has been the subject of several peer-reviewed

scientific papers Scientific literature encompasses a vast body of academic papers that spans various disciplines within the Natural science, natural and social sciences. It primarily consists of academic papers that present original empirical research an ...

at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

has said of him: "Savants can't usually tell us how they do what they do. It just comes to them. Daniel can describe what he sees in his head. That's why he's exciting. He could be the

Rosetta Stone The Rosetta Stone is a stele of granodiorite inscribed with three versions of a Rosetta Stone decree, decree issued in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty of ancient Egypt, Egypt, on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle texts ...

." In his mind, Tammet says, each

positive integer In mathematics, the natural numbers are the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, and so on, possibly excluding 0. Some start counting with 0, defining the natural numbers as the non-negative integers , while others start with 1, defining them as the positiv ...

up to 10,000 has its own unique shape, colour, texture and feel. He has described his visual image of 289 as particularly ugly, 333 as particularly attractive, and pi, though not an integer, as beautiful. The number 6 apparently has no distinct image yet what he describes as an almost small nothingness, opposite to the number 9, which he says is large, towering, and quite intimidating. Tammet describes the number 117 as "a handsome number. It's tall, it's a lanky number, a little bit wobbly." He described

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer, and auto racing team owner. He hosted late-night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982, debut of ''Late N ...

with the number 117 in these terms when interviewed on the ''

''.David Letterman Mathematics Genius Prodigy Daniel Tammet Math 3.14 Pi Day
Letterman, accessed 2010-02-01 In his memoir, Tammet describes undergoing a synaesthetic and emotional response for numbers and words. Tammet set the European record for reciting pi from memory on 14 March 2004 – recounting to 22,514 digits in five hours and nine minutes. He revealed in a French talk show on Radio Classique on 29 April 2016, that this event inspired

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...

's song "Pi" from her album ''Aerial''. Tammet is a

polyglot Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

. In ''Born on a Blue Day'', he writes that he knows 10 languages: English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Lithuanian, Esperanto, Spanish, Romanian, Icelandic, and Welsh. In ''Embracing the Wide Sky'', Tammet wrote that he learned conversational Icelandic in a week, and appeared on an interview on ''

Kastljós ''Kastljós'' () is an Icelandic news magazine and talk show on the Icelandic national television channel RÚV. Þóra Arnórsdóttir is the current editor and former host of the show. The hosts for 2019–2020 were Einar Þorsteinsson and Jóhan ...

'' on

RÚV Ríkisútvarpið (, ; abbr. RÚV ) is Iceland's national public broadcasting, public-service broadcasting organization. Founded in 1930, it operates from studios in the country's capital, Reykjavík, as well as regional centres around the count ...

speaking the language.

Works

Non-fiction

*''Born on a Blue Day'' (2006) *''Embracing the Wide Sky'' (2009) *''Thinking in Numbers'' (2012) *''Every Word Is a Bird We Teach to Sing'' (2017) *''Fragments de paradis'' (2020), in French *''How to be ‘Normal’ - Notes on the Eccentricities of Modern Life'' (2020) *''Nine Minds: Inner Lives on the Spectrum'' (2025)

Novels

*''Mishenka'' (2016), in French

Poetry

*''Portraits'' (2018), bilingual edition (English / French)

Essays

*"What It Feels Like to Be a Savant" in ''Esquire'' (August 2005) *"Open Letter to Barack Obama" in ''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * The Advocate (magazine), ''The Advocate'' (magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States * ''The Harvard Advocate' ...

'' (December 2008) *"Olympics: Are the Fastest and Strongest Reaching Their Mathematical Limits?" in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' (August 2012) *"What I'm Thinking About ... Tolstoy and Maths" in ''The Guardian'' (August 2012) *"The Sultan's Sudoku" in ''Aeon'' digital magazine (December 2012) *"Languages Revealing Worlds and Selves" in ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (September 2017)

Translations

*''C'est une chose sérieuse que d'être parmi les hommes'' (2014), a collection of poems by Les Murray translated by Tammet into French

Forewords

*''Islands of Genius'' (2010), by Darold A. Treffert

Songs

*''647'': co-writer of the song with musician

Florent Marchet Florent Marchet (born 21 June 1975) is a French singer-songwriter. His debut album, '' Gargilesse'', was released in 2004. Florent plays the piano, guitar, drums, and flute. He has collaborated with François Poggio, Pete Thomas, and Charli ...

on his ''Bamby Galaxy'' album (January 2014)

Short films

*''The Universe and Me'' (2017) Collaboration with French film maker Thibaut Buccellato.

Mänti

Mänti (, ) is a

constructed language A constructed language (shortened to conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, orthography, and vocabulary, instead of having developed natural language, naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devise ...

that Tammet published in 2006. The word ''Mänti'' comes from the Finnish word for "pine tree" (, ). Mänti uses vocabulary and grammar from the Finnic languages.

Awards

*American Library Association ''Booklist'' magazine "Editors' Choice Adult Books" (2007) for "Born on a Blue Day" *''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' "Top Choice of Books" for ''Born on a Blue Day'' *American Library Association ''Young Adult Library Services'' magazine

Best Books for Young Adults The American Library Association's (ALA) Best Fiction for Young Adults, previously known as Best Books for Young Adults (1966–2010), is a recommended list of books presented yearly by the Young Adult Library Services Association The Young Ad ...

" (2008)
Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads
"Selection for 2012" (2011) *

Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

(2012) *American Library Association ''Booklist'' magazine "Editors' Choice Adult Books" (2017) for "Every Word Is a Bird We Teach to Sing" *''

New Zealand Listener The ''New Zealand Listener'' is a weekly New Zealand magazine that covers the political, cultural and literary life of New Zealand by featuring a variety of topics, including current events, politics, social issues, health, technology, arts, f ...

'' The 100 Best Books of 2017 for "Every Word Is a Bird We Teach to Sing"

References

External links

* * : Different ways of knowing (June 2011) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tammet, Daniel 1979 births Autistic savants British mnemonists Constructed language creators Converts to Christianity English Christians English Esperantists English expatriates in France English gay writers Estophiles Icelandic language Gay Christians Living people Mental calculators People from Barking, London People with Asperger syndrome LGBTQ mathematicians 21st-century English LGBTQ people Recreational mathematicians English writers with disabilities LGBTQ writers with disabilities Autistic writers Autistic LGBTQ people Writers from the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham