Geniuses

First off, you may be surprised to find that Albert Einstein is not included on this list. The reason is that I have used a table of IQ estimates for historical geniuses to determine the members and order of this list, and Einstein’s IQ (around 160) did not make the grade. Despite that, he is still the first person to pop in to most people’s minds when thinking of a genius. Having said that, here is a list of the ten greatest geniuses in history.

10. Madame De Stael IQ: 180Wikipedia

In full - Anne-Louise-Germaine Necker, Baronne (baroness) de Staël-Holstein, byname Madame de Staël. Madame de Stael was a French-Swiss woman of letters, political propagandist, and conversationalist, who epitomized the European culture of her time, bridging the history of ideas from Neoclassicism to Romanticism. She also gained fame by maintaining a salon for leading intellectuals. Her writings include novels, plays, moral and political essays, literary criticism, history, autobiographical memoirs, and even a number of poems. Her most important literary contribution was as a theorist of Romanticism. Madame de Stael is on an equal level with René Descartes but I chose to include her rather than him in order to put at least one woman on this list.

9. Galileo Galilei IQ: 185Wikipedia

Galileo was Italian natural philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician who made fundamental contributions to the sciences of motion, astronomy, and strength of materials and to the development of the scientific method. His formulation of (circular) inertia, the law of falling bodies, and parabolic trajectories marked the beginning of a fundamental change in the study of motion. His insistence that the book of nature was written in the language of mathematics changed natural philosophy from a verbal, qualitative account to a mathematical one in which experimentation became a recognized method for discovering the facts of nature. Finally, his discoveries with the telescope revolutionized

astronomy and paved the way for the acceptance of the Copernican heliocentric system, but his advocacy of that system in support of his view that the Bible contained errors, eventually resulted in an Inquisition process against him.

<>8. Bobby Fischer IQ: 187Wikipedia

Bobby is the byname of Robert James Fischer, an American chess master who became the youngest grandmaster in history when he received the title in 1958. His youthful intemperance and brilliant playing drew the attention of the American public to the game of chess, particularly when he won the world championship in 1972. Fischer learned the moves of chess at age 6 and at 16 dropped out of high school to devote himself fully to the game. In 1958 he won the first of many American championships. In world championship candidate matches during 1970–71, Fischer won 20 consecutive games before losing once and drawing three times to former world champion Tigran Petrosyan of the Soviet Union in a final match won by Fischer. In 1972 Fischer became the first native-born American to hold the title of world champion when he defeated Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union in a highly publicized match held in Reykjavík, Iceland. In doing so, Fischer won the $156,000 victor’s share of the $250,000 purse.

<>7. Ludwig Wittgenstein IQ: 190Wikipedia

in full - Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein was an Austrian-born English philosopher, regarded by many as the greatest philosopher of the 20th century. Wittgenstein’s two major works, Logisch-philosophische Abhandlung (1921; Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, 1922) and Philosophische Untersuchungen (published posthumously in 1953; Philosophical Investigations), have inspired a vast secondary literature and have done much to shape subsequent developments in philosophy, especially within the analytic tradition. His charismatic personality has, in addition, exerted a powerful fascination upon artists, playwrights, poets, novelists, musicians, and even filmmakers, so that his fame has spread far beyond the confines of academic life.

<>6. Blaise Pascal IQ: 195Wikipedia

Blaise Pascal was a French mathematician, physicist, religious philosopher, and master of prose. He laid the foundation for the modern theory of probabilities, formulated what came to be known as Pascal’s law of pressure, and propagated a religious doctrine that taught the experience of God through the heart rather than through reason. The establishment of his principle of intuitionism had an impact on such later philosophers as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Henri Bergson and also on the Existentialists.

5. John Stuart Mill IQ: 200Wikipedia

John Stuart Mill was an English philosopher, economist, and exponent of Utilitarianism. He was prominent as a publicist in the reforming age of the 19th century, and remains of lasting interest as a logician and an ethical theorist. Mill was a man of extreme simplicity in his mode of life. The influence that his works exercised upon contemporary English thought can scarcely be overestimated, nor can there be any doubt about the value of the liberal and inquiring spirit with which he handled the great questions of his time. Beyond that, however, there has been considerable difference of opinion about the enduring merits of his philosophy.

<>4. Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz IQ: 205Wikipedia

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (also Leibnitz or von Leibniz (July 1 (June 21 Old Style) 1646 – November 14, 1716) was a German philosopher of Sorbian origin who wrote primarily in Latin and French. Educated in law and philosophy, and serving as factotum to two major German noble houses (one becoming the British royal family while he served it), Leibniz played a major role in the European politics and diplomacy of his day. He occupies an equally large place in both the history of philosophy and the history of mathematics. He discovered calculus independently of Newton, and his notation is the one in general use since. He also discovered the binary system, foundation of virtually all modern computer architectures. In philosophy, he is most remembered for optimism, i.e., his conclusion that our universe is, in a restricted sense, the best possible one God could have made.

<>3. Emanuel Swedenborg IQ: 205Wikipedia

Emanuel Swedenborg was a Swedish scientist, Christian mystic, philosopher, and theologian who wrote voluminously in interpreting the Scriptures as the immediate word of God. Soon after his death, devoted followers created Swedenborgian societies dedicated to the study of his thought. These societies formed the nucleus of the Church of the New Jerusalem, or New Church, also called the Swedenborgians.

<>2. Leonardo Da Vinci IQ: 205Wikipedia

Leonardo Da Vinci, Italian painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, and engineer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal. His Last Supper (1495–98) and Mona Lisa (c. 1503–06) are among the most widely popular and influential paintings of the Renaissance. His notebooks reveal a spirit of scientific inquiry and a mechanical inventiveness that were centuries ahead of their time. The unique fame that Leonardo enjoyed in his lifetime and that, filtered by historical criticism,

has remained undimmed to the present day rests largely on his unlimited desire for knowledge, which guided all his thinking and behaviour.

<>1. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe IQ: 210Wikipedia

Goethe, German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, critic, and amateur artist, is considered the greatest German literary figure of the modern era. Goethe is the only German literary figure whose range and international standing equal those of Germany’s supreme philosophers (who have often drawn on his works and ideas) and composers (who have often set his works to music). In the literary culture of the German-speaking countries, he has had so dominant a position that, since the end of the 18th century, his writings have been described as “classical.” In a European perspective he appears as the central and unsurpassed representative of the Romantic movement, broadly understood.

Estimated IQs of some of the Greatest Geniuses

G. W. von Leibniz

 

Leonardo da Vinci

 

        Hypatia

This page is dedicated to some of the greatest minds of all time.

IntroductionA normal intelligence quotient (IQ) ranges from 85 to 115 (According to the Stanford-Binet scale). Only approximately 1% of the people in the world have an IQ of 135 or over. In 1926, psychologist Dr. Catherine Morris Cox - who had been assisted by Dr. Lewis M. Terman, Dr. Florence L. Goodenaugh, and Dr. Kate Gordon - published a study "of the most eminent men and women" who had lived between 1450 and 1850 to estimate what their IQs might have been. The resultant IQs were based largely on the degree sof

brightness and intelligence each subject showed before attaining the age of 17. Taken from a revised and completed version of this study, table II shows the projected IQs of some of the best scorers.

For comparison I have included table I which shows the IQs' relation to educational level.

Cox also found that different fields have quite widely varying average IQs for their acknowledged leading geniuses. Displayed below are there calculated Deviation IQs (the number in brackets is the number in the sample considered):

Philosophers (22) average IQ 160; Scientists (39) 159; Fiction writers (53) 152; Statesmen (43) 150; Musicians (11) 149; Artists (13) 153; Soldiers (27) 136.

As a curiosity it can be mentioned that the famous english philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell sometimes interpreted Nietzsche's overman as a person with an IQ of at least 180 (Actually Russell considered himself to have this IQ!). I read in some paper that Einstein , regarded as the prototype for a genius, may "only" have had just above 160 .

It is important to distinguish between the intelligence quotients measured for adults and for children. While the intelligence quotient in theory has no upper limit for children, it is often considered as unmeasurable for adults if it exceeds 200 (Normally, it is never set above 210. However, highest possible scores to date should lie in the interval 210-220 with decreasing probability). This is caused by the different measuring methods used. According to the definition of intelligence quotient for a child, the mental age is divided by the chronological age. The quotient is then multiplied by 100 (Ratio IQ). This implies, of course, that you cannot use the same method for adults as for children. Instead you use a statistical mean value of 100 for the average number of correct answers for a representative adult group of people (Deviation IQ).

NOTE: So far as I know there has only been one documented female universal genius: Hypatia, an ancient Greek beauty celebrated as philosopher as well as mathematician and scientist. She was also famous for her lecturing skill.

Personal viewThe question is now if the intelligence quotient is an unambiguous measure of the capacity and power of the brain. I suspect most people would hardly think so. If they did, they would be "forgetting" that the brain actually consists of two brain halves. Is it, e.g., necessary to have a high intelligence quotient to be a successful (creative) artist, or a great musician? Normally it helps, but would it be a necessary prerequisite? Intelligence tests have a very intellectualistic, I would also say one-dimensional, approach to the degree of giftedness. These IQ tests are also made more difficult by the fact that it is often possible to logically, or from one's own value systems, arrive at answers that are as plausible as the one designated by the test designer. In any case, it is imperative to control the strength of the logical connections within the test problems. It is also not especially advisable to use the rapidity with which a problem is solved as a criterion. Your slow colleague is perhaps on his way to solving Fermat's Last Theorem (Yes, I know it has already been solved by the English mathematician Andrew Wiles), even if it takes years. You are probably satisfied if you can use it. But you don't take the whole day when learning "Black Peter" (a card-game for children), as your friend does, thinking at a snail's pace.

What do you call a fly when you pull its wings off?

A. A fly with the wings pulled off. B. A walk.

C. A down-to-earth fly.

Portraits

Plato Philosopher    

Hypatia Universal genius (Philosopher)  

Leonardo da Vinci Universal genius (Artist)  

Maria Gaetana Agnesi Mathematician Genius for languages  

John Stuart Mill Philosopher Economist  

Sofia Kovalevskaya Mathematician Writer  

Albert Einstein Physicist    

Maria Curie (b. Sklodowska) Physicist    

Stephen W. Hawking Physicist Cosmologist

Simone de Beauvoir Philosopher Writer

Portraits (Outside the West)

Confucius Chinese Philosopher

Avicenna Persian Philosopher

Srinivasa Ramanujan Indian Mathematician

Maya Chiburdanidze Georgian Chess Player

  Physician    

Amazing, but the truth?

William James Sidis Universal genius

Marilyn Vos Savant Writer

COMMENT: With regard to super-high childhood IQ scores [derived from: (MA/CA) x 100]: It is clear from Hollingworth's work and the work of others that there is a marked "regression to the mean" with maturity. It has been suggested that childhood "ratio" scores have a natural standard deviation of 24 (cf. the Cattell Scale), so it is necessary to multiply the excess above the mean by 2/3rds to convert a childhood score to an adult score with the conventional SD16. That would imply the following adult scores: IQ 200+ for Sidis, and IQ 185 for Savant. Still, extremely high, but more probable.

Table I

Intelligence Interval Cognitive Designation Common Possessors*

85 - 114 Average Pupils at junior high school

115 - 124 Above average Pupils at senior high school

125 - 134 Gifted University graduates

135 - 144 Highly gifted Intellectuals

145 - 154 Genius Professors

155 - 164 Genius Nobel Prize Winners

165 - 179 High genius  

180 - 200 Highest genius  

>200 "Unmeasurable" genius  

*= Should be interpreted as on what educational levels you most likely will find the gifted, the geniuses, and so on

Table II

Name Nationality Active as & CommentsRatio IQs

Deviation IQs*

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Germany Poet/Writer. Universal genius.** 210 179

Emanuel Swedenborg

Sweden Religious writer. Universal genius. 205 176

Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz

GermanyPhilosopher/Mathematician, etc. The greatest universal genius together with Leonardo da Vinci.**

205 176

John Stuart Mill England Philosopher/Economist/Political theorist 200 174

Blaise Pascal France Mathematician/Physicist/Religious thinker 195 171

Ludwig Wittgenstein

Austria Philosopher - 190

Bobby Fischer U.S.A. Chess player 187 167

Galileo Galilei Italy Physicist/Astronomer/Philosopher 185 165

René Descartes France Philosopher/Mathematician 180 162

Madame De Stael France Woman of letters/Novelist/Political Philosopher 180 162

Immanuel Kant Germany Philosopher 175 159

Linus Carl Pauling U.S.A. Chemist - Double Nobel Prize Winner 170 156

Sofia Kovalevskaya

Russia/Sweden Mathematician/Writer 170 156

Thomas Chatterton

England Poet/Writer 170 156

Charles Darwin England Naturalist 165 153

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Austria Composer 165 153

George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)

England Writer - Close friend to J.S. Mill. 160 150

Nicolaus Copernicus

Poland Cleric/Astronomer 160 150

Olof Palme Sweden Prime Minister (Murdered) - 156

Rembrandt van Rijn

Holland Painter/Etcher 155 146

Anna Lindh Sweden Foreign Minister (Murdered) 152 145

George Sand (Aurore Dupin)

France Writer 150 143

*= These scores are kindly supplied by Stevan Damjanovic **= Models for Nietzsche's overman

Timeline