He's not making that stuff up, folks. I've done those types of mathematical operations myself. He's much better than I was. So, who is this kid? from the Indianapolis Star:
Genius at work: 12-year-old is studying at IUPUI
"When Jacob Barnett first learned about the Schrödinger equation for quantum mechanics, he could hardly contain himself. For three straight days, his little brain buzzed with mathematical functions. From within his 12-year-old, mildly autistic mind, there gradually flowed long strings of pluses, minuses, funky letters and upside-down triangles -- a tapestry of complicated symbols that few can understand. He grabbed his pencil and filled every sheet of paper before grabbing a marker and filling up a dry erase board that hangs in his bedroom. With a single-minded obsession, he kept on, eventually marking up every window in the home.
"But entirely normal for Jacob, a child prodigy who used to crunch his cereal while calculating the volume of the cereal box in his head. "Whenever I try talking about math with anyone in my family," he said, "they just stare blankly."
I feel your pain, kid. I get the same, "Children of the Corn," stare around my crib. And don't ever let them tell you that you're weird. We're the normal ones. It's everyone else that's weird. Read on:
"Oh my gosh, when he was 2, my fear was that he would never be in our world at all," said Kristine Barnett, 36, Jake's mother.
"He would not talk to anyone. He would not even look at us."
"Child psychologists assessed Jake at the time and diagnosed behavioral characteristics of a borderline autistic child. He was impaired, they said, and had a lack of "spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment," difficulty showing emotion and interacting with others.
"Diagnosis: mildly autistic.
"My biggest fear," his mom said last week, with tears welling up in her eyes, "was that he had lost the ability to say, 'I love you' to us."
"By age 3, Jake was the focus of a more intense evaluation from a team of psychologists, therapists and a diagnostic teacher.
"Their report indicated that while Jake continued to struggle with social activities and physical development, he was showing signs of academic skills that were above his age level.
"Diagnosis: Asperger's syndrome, a somewhat milder condition related to autism.
"After hearing this, Jake's parents decided to pay closer attention to the things their first-born son was doing -- rather than the things he was not.
"For example, Jake often recited the alphabet -- forward and then backward. He used Q-tips to create vivid geometrical shapes on the living room floor. He solved 5,000-piece puzzles (rather quickly). And he once soaked in a state road map and ended up memorizing every highway and license plate prefix.
"And perhaps most amazingly, he could recite the mathematical constant pi out to 70 digits."
That is all seriously cool to a geek like me, but what about being a regular kid. After all, he has the rest of his life to do adult stuff. Not to worry:
"Despite this new experience, his parents insist that Jake remain close with his friends in Westfield. Social activity is important, they know.
"For Jake, life is not all centered on math and astrophysics.
"He also likes playing video games. ("Guitar Hero" and "Halo: Reach" are his current favorites.) He plays basketball with friends, has a girlfriend and recently attended his first dance.
"He likes music -- classical, which he plays by memory on a piano, but he also plays some contemporary songs he hears on the radio. He loves sci-fi movies and the Disney Channel. He watches documentaries on the History Channel.
"A normal kid."
You go, kid. You're more normal then most of the people I work with...
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