7 People With The Highest IQ In History
Emily Baldwin What is IQ?
The Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is a number used to measure a person’s intelligence. It is calculated by dividing the person’s mental age, as determined by a special test, by their actual age in years and then multiplying the result by 100.
Intelligence has long been a subject of fascination and admiration. Throughout history, there have been remarkable individuals who exhibited exceptional intellectual abilities. In this article, we will explore the lives of seven people who achieved some of the highest recorded IQ scores ever documented. Their extraordinary intelligence not only astounded their contemporaries but continues to inspire and captivate us even today.
1. Adragon De Mello: IQ 400
Adragon De Mello, born on October 5, 1976, graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz when he was just 11 years old. He became the youngest college graduate in the U.S. until Michael Kearney broke the record in 1994. Adragon’s early accomplishments were likely a result of hard work rather than inherent intellectual abilities. In 1981, he joined Mensa and later became a member of Intertel, an organization for highly intelligent individuals. Adragon’s father estimated his IQ to be 400 when he was five years old.
De Mello died of bladder cancer Friday in a Santa Clara nursing home. A self-declared genius, De Mello worked as a technical writer. He wrote boxes of poetry and self-published some.
2. Michael Kearney: IQ 325
Michael Kevin Kearney, born on January 18, 1984, is an American college teaching assistant and game show contestant. He holds multiple world records for being the youngest college graduate and teaching college students as a teenager. Furthermore, he has won more than one million dollars as a game show contestant. At the age of ten, he became the youngest person to graduate from college in the United States.
Michael’s IQ is approximately 325, which is derived from his score of 168 on a Stanford-Binet test intended for children aged six and older.
3. William James Sidis: IQ 250+
William James Sidis, born on April 1, 1898, was a remarkable child prodigy from America known for his exceptional abilities in mathematics and languages. He gained fame for his book titled “The Animate and the Inanimate,” published in 1925 (written around 1920), where he delved into the origins of life in relation to thermodynamics.
Sidis possessed an estimated IQ ranging between 250 and 300, leaving the world astounded by his incredible memory and advanced mathematical aptitude. At a mere 16 years old, he achieved the feat of graduating from Harvard University. However, faced with societal pressures, Sidis opted for a reclusive life, preferring to keep away from the public’s attention.
4. Terence Tao: IQ 225-230
Terence Chi-Shen Tao, a renowned Australian-born mathematician, currently serves as a professor of mathematics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), holding the prestigious James and Carol Collins chair. Born on 17 July 1975, Tao has achieved remarkable success in various areas of mathematics, such as harmonic analysis, partial differential equations, algebraic combinatorics, arithmetic combinatorics, geometric combinatorics, probability theory, compressed sensing, and analytic number theory.
This accomplished mathematician, who has been awarded the esteemed Fields Medal, is widely recognized for his exceptional intellectual capabilities, with an impressive IQ of 230. Tao’s influential contributions extend across multiple mathematical disciplines, including analysis, partial differential equations, and combinatorial topics. His groundbreaking research is a testament to his extraordinary intellect and has significantly impacted the field of mathematics.
5. Leonardo da Vinci: IQ 220
Leonardo da Vinci, born in 1452 and died in 1519, was an Italian genius of the Renaissance period. He was known for his skills as a painter, engineer, scientist, sculptor, and architect. In addition to his paintings, he also kept notebooks where he documented his drawings and notes on various topics like anatomy, astronomy, botany, cartography, painting, and paleontology.
Today, he is celebrated as one of history’s greatest polymaths, with his intelligence estimated to be around 220. His famous artworks, such as The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, continue to captivate art enthusiasts worldwide.
6. Marilyn vos Savant: IQ 228
Marilyn Vos Savant, born Marilyn Mach on August 11, 1946, is an American magazine columnist. She holds the highest recorded intelligence quotient (IQ) in the Guinness Book of Records, a category that is no longer competitive. Since 1986, she has been writing “Ask Marilyn,” a Sunday column in Parade magazine. In her column, she solves puzzles and answers questions on various topics. She gained popularity in 1990 for popularizing the Monty Hall problem.
The second test reported by Guinness was Hoeflin’s Mega Test, which was taken in the mid-1980s. This test provides IQ scores based on standardized scores, the rarity of the raw test score, and a standard deviation. This resulted in an IQ of 228.
7. Judit Polgár
Judit Polgár was born on July 23, 1976. She is a Hungarian chess grandmaster who is widely considered the best female chess player ever. At the age of 15 years and 4 months in 1991, she became the youngest person to achieve the Grandmaster title, surpassing the previous record set by Bobby Fischer, the former World Champion. When she was 12 years old, she also became the youngest player to enter the FIDE top 100 players rating list, ranking No. 55 in the January 1989 rating list. Additionally, she became a grandmaster at the age of 11.
Conclusion:
These seven individuals, with their extraordinary intellect and remarkable achievements, have left an indelible mark on history. Their immense contributions to various fields have shaped our understanding of the world and continue to inspire us to push the boundaries of human knowledge. While their exceptional IQ scores may be awe-inspiring, it is their relentless pursuit of knowledge and their dedication to their respective fields that truly sets them apart as intellectual giants.
