Originally genius is a term from Roman mythology, see: genius (mythology). The modern meaning of the word is different; see below.
In general usage, a genius is either a polymath or a person phenomenally gifted with insight and skill, mainly regarding intelligence. Most people think of intellectual geniuses but there are creative geniuses (for example Oscar Wilde) and athletic geniuses.
Term is reserved for those of extraordinary talent that goes far beyond what a non-genius could ever hope to achieve. Geniuses often make huge original leaps in their field of work, rather than just extending previous work in that field.
Among persons widely called geniuses are:
- Alexander the Great (conqueror)
- Archimedes (mathematician)
- Johann Sebastian Bach (composer)
- Ludwig van Beethoven (composer)
- Charles Darwin (biologist)
- René Descartes (mathematician and philosopher)
- Thomas Alva Edison (inventor)
- Albert Einstein (theoretical physicist)
- Paul Erdös (mathematician)
- Benjamin Franklin (inventor, diplomat, political scientist)
- Sigmund Freud (psychologist)
- Noam Chomsky (Linguist, philosopher, psychologist and U.S foreign policy critic.)
- Evariste Galois (mathematician)
- Carl Friedrich Gauss (mathematician)
- Murray Gell-Mann (physicist)
- Stephen Hawking (cosmologist)
- Alexander Hamilton (Statesman, New York Assemblymen, Congressman, Artillery Captain, Pamphleteer and chief author of Federalist papers. 1st U.S Secretary of Treasury)
- Thomas Jefferson, (statesman, philospher)
- James Joyce (writer)
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (composer)
- Isaac Newton (physicist)
- Blaise Pascal (mathematician and philosopher)
- Plato (philosopher)
- Ramanujan (mathematician)
- William Shakespeare (playwright)
- Nikola Tesla (electrical engineer and physicist)
- Alan Turing (mathematician)
- Vincent Van Gogh (painter)
- Leonardo da Vinci (inventor and artist)
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (writer and poet)
- Frank Lloyd Wright (architect)
- Ludwig Wittgenstein (Philosopher)
This list contains a disproportionate number of geniuses in mathematics and science. More geniuses in other fields should be included.
Among history's most significant works of Genius , are— The complete works of Mozart, Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel, Albert Einstein's theories, and the works of William Shakespeare.
References
Harold Bloom, Genius: A Mosaic of One Hundred Exemplary Creative Minds, Warner Books
James Gleick, Genius : The Life and Science of Richard Feynman, Vintage
Clifford A. Pickover, Strange Brains and Genius, Quill
