William James Sidis: biography and photos

Did you know that throughout most of the first half of the 20th century it was believed that William James Sidis is the most gifted person on the planet? You did not even hear that name? But in fact it once did not come off the pages of the press. So who was William James Sidis?

Father

The prodigy was born on April 1, 1898 in the USA (New York). He was the son of Jewish immigrants from the city of Berdichev, who was then considered part of the Russian Empire. His father - Boris Sidis - was friends with the American philosopher William James. In his honor he called the boy.

In Russia B. Sidis was subjected to political repression, was arrested and spent 2 years in prison, in solitary confinement. He received a degree from Harvard University, where he then taught psychology, and was engaged in scientific research. His pen belongs to several books and articles. Boris Sidis was considered one of the most famous psychologists and psychiatrists in the United States early 20 th century. He was a polyglot and began to teach the son of languages, from an early age.

Early childhood

William's mother, Sarah Saidis, was one of the most educated women of her time. In 1897, she received a doctorate at the University of Boston, but did not pursue a career, and devoted her life to her son.

Parents even before the birth of the boy decided to educate the genius, so they developed a special education system, which was criticized by the native and famous teachers of the time. Be that as it may, it has given some fruits. In particular, already at the age of one and a half years the child read the newspaper The New York Times. At the age of six, the boy declared that he did not believe in God, and became a convinced atheist for life. By the age of 8, his IQ was estimated by specialists in the range from 250 to 300, that is, it was the record recorded in the history of intelligence.

Training

In 1905, despite the fact that William James Sidis, whose books were read with interest by his father's colleagues, passed the entrance examination to Harvard, the university administration refused to accept him as a student. However, after 4 years, when the boy was 11 years old, he was still enrolled in the department for the over-impressed children, thus becoming the youngest student. Together with him studied the founder father of cybernetics Norbert Wiener, the inventor Richard Fuller and others.

At the beginning of 1910, William James Sidis knew mathematics so well that he was invited to lecture at the Harvard Maths Club. Leading scientists of that time prophesied to the boy a grandiose scientific career and leadership in this field.

Later Sidis entered the Harvard High School of Arts and Sciences.

Teaching Activities

Since the young man did not have relations with the students of the alma mater, and he was even threatened with physical violence, Sidis' parents helped his son to enter the Rice University in Houston. Thus, William had to move to Texas, where he began work in late 1915. Despite the fact that he was only 17 years old, he read a course of geometry and trigonometry, and even he wrote a mathematical textbook in Greek.

However, a few months later, the guy was disappointed in his work, depressed and extremely bad attitude of students who did not like the fact that the teacher was younger than them for several years.

William James Sidis (photo below) returned to New England and entered the Harvard Law School. Having studied for 3 years, he left his studies shortly before the completion of the course, without even explaining the reason for his act to his parents.

Arrest

In the aftermath of the May Day demonstration that took place in 1919 in Boston, Sidis was arrested, and he was facing prison sentences for a year and a half. This information got to the press, and one of the youngest and most gifted graduates of Harvard became a celebrity.

The young man defiantly behaved during the trial. In particular, he said that he considered himself a socialist, and at the time he did not want to go to the front (it's about the First World War) for ideological reasons.

Father Sidis with great difficulty succeeded in persuading the prosecutor not to send his son to prison. In particular, he had to promise to take control of his behavior. In order for William not to do something stupid again, his parents decided to temporarily isolate him from outside influence and sent him to a sanatorium in New Hampshire for a year, and then took him to California.

The Sidis were disappointed because of the unfulfilled hopes for a brilliant future son and insisted that he change, threatening otherwise to send him for treatment in a madhouse.

End of life

William James Sidis, whose biography was once a subject of discussion in the scientific community, spent his mature years in New York. There he lived separately from his parents and did not dare return to Massachusetts, as he feared arrest. Sidis was engaged in science and collecting. At the same time he worked as a simple accountant, changing the office for the office. The reason was that sooner or later the colleagues found out his brilliant abilities, and he hid himself, because he could not bear the increased attention to his person. In addition, the man constantly sued the newspapers, which from time to time published not always truthful articles about his life.

Sidis died in Boston at the age of 46 from an intracerebral hemorrhage, as did his father.

Research topics

The main areas of Sidis' scientific interests were American history, cosmology and psychology. He was fascinated by the collection of railway tickets and studied transport systems. One of his works, published under the pseudonym Frank Folup, was devoted to ways to increase the capacity of networks.

In addition, since childhood Sidis was fond of inventing words. He created the artificial language Vendergood, which is a mixture of Latin, Greek, German, French words. It should be noted and his pseudoscientific work, in which he, considering the history of the Americas, claimed that once in Europe lived as many Indians as in the New World.

Why did the specialists consider WJ Sidis to be a person with unique abilities

And to this day, among researchers, disputes over the degree of giftedness of this person do not cease. In favor of the uniqueness of the gift of William James Sidis, the following arguments are given:

• He learned to write by the end of the first year of life.
• At the age of five, William read some of Homer's works in the original.
• A year later, the boy was already well versed in Aristotelian logic.
• At seven years, William James Sidis withstood an anatomical examination at Harvard Medical School.
• A year later he was already the author of 4 books, including a serious monograph on anatomy.
• By the same time, William knew eight languages, including Latin, English, Greek, Hebrew, Russian, French and German. In addition, he invented one more, which he used to fool around.
• At the age of 11, the boy entered Harvard University, and a little later he was already lecturing at the local scientific club of mathematicians.
• He managed to graduate in 16 years Harvard. At the same time he was one of the few students who did it with distinction.
• As an adult, William spoke 40 languages.

And today there are many parents who try to accelerate the development of the child in all ways. Let the difficult life of a genius serve as a warning to them. William James Sidis spent his childhood on books and, being deprived of communication with peers, grew up as a sociophobe, eschewing people. As a result, he lived a life as a hermit, without friends and bright events, he could not create a family, and in general it is difficult to call him a happy man.

Today, the child prodigy continues to be the subject of study by psychologists. In particular, many of his scientific works deal with his complicated life. William James Sidis is an example of a genius who has lost his talent and has not attained noticeable success in adulthood.