The Top 10 Smartest People In The World
The human brain is a mysterious and powerful
part of a human’s body. Everything else cannot function without the
brain; nothing will ever make sense without the human mind. It has
always been a wonder how the brain functions and why humans have varying
levels of intelligence. Some are just more intelligent than the others,
and some just have IQ levels that the simple mind cannot fathom. One
cannot help but be in awe with the top 10 people with the highest IQ’s.
10. Stephen Hawking
A man of Science, a cosmologist, and a theoretically physicist, Stephen Hawking
has never failed to amaze everyone with his impressive IQ of 160. He
was born in Oxford, England in 1942. In spite of having amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis (ALS), he has proven how his mind can overpower his
condition. His notable IQ has made him go bigger than his paralysis. His
contribution to Science and Cosmology is unparalleled as he used
quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity in introducing cosmology
to everyone. In 2009, Hawking was awarded the Presidential Medal of
Freedom, which is the highest award that can be granted to an American
civilian.
9. Judith Polgar
A child prodigy with a
whopping IQ level of 170, Judit Polar is the youngest grand chess
champion who has taken over Bobby Fischcer’s record in just a month.
Touted as the strongest woman chess player of all time, included in the
list of his defeated chess opponents include only the best and current
world champions in the field of chess. Name it—Garry
Kasparov, Boris Spassky, and Anatoly Karpov—Polgar has used her
extensive chess training during her childhood to give them run for their
titles.
8. Sir Andrew Wiles
Famous for proving the Fermat’s
Last Theorem, which is deemed to be the world’s most difficult problem,
Sir Andrew John Wiles has created waves and made history with his
significant contributions to mathematics. A mathematician with an
impressive IQ level of 170, Sir Andrew Wiles has received 15 prizes in
Math and Science. He is also a Royal Society Research Professor at
Oxford University, with specialization in number theory.
7. Paul Gardner Allen
Co-founder of one of the biggest corporations in the world, Microsoft, Paul Gardner Allen sits on his throne as the 48th
richest person in the world. Being successful in using his impressive
IQ level of 170 to turn them into riches, Allen has also become known
for being an inventor, investor, and philanthropist. He scored a perfect
1600 on the SAT and his net worth amounts to a whopping $14.2 Billion.
He is also known to create world-class projects that aim to improve
people’s lifestyle.
6. James Howard Woods
Beyond James Woods’
acting skills is an exceptional IQ level of 180. He is an film, stage
and television actor who has already received a Golden Globe nomination.
He scored a perfect 800 on his verbal and got a 799 in Math for his SAT
exams. He went to UCLA in highschool, studying Linear Algebra and got a
full scholarship at MIT. However, he did not pursue his career in the
academe as he dropped out of college and chose celebrity-hood. Most of
his awards can be attributed to his acting prowess-three Emmy Awards and
two Academy Award nominations, Woods is really impressive.
5. Garry Kasparov
Touted as the greatest chess player of all time,
Garry Kasparov has amazed the world with his exceptional IQ level of
190. Displaying his intuition and intelligence, Kasparov holds the
record of being the youngest undisputed world chess champion. He won his
title at the age of 22. In May 1997, he was defeated by a computer
opponent that was programmed to calculate 200 million moves per second.
Nevertheless, Kasparov still holds the record for the longest stretch as
the no. 1 chess player. Apart from this achievements in chess, he also
ran for presidency in Russia and is the founder of the United Civil
Front.
4. Rick Rosner
Known for being an American TV writer, Rick Rosner is
popular for his outstanding intelligence level—an exceptional IQ level
of 192. Other reports say that he was able to garner the highest scores
recorded on IQ tests. Another interesting fact about Rosner is that he
claimed that he worked as a stripper, bouncer, nude model, and a
roller-skating model. Imagine just how impressive his resume is!
3. Kim Ung-Yong
The term child prodigy is
clearly an understatement to describe Ung-Yong. He displayed his
potential of becoming a genius at 6 months old when he was already able
to speak and read in Korean and in other languages. At 4, he took an IQ
test that was usually given to 7-year old children and he got an
outstanding score of more than 200. At the age of 8, he was already
invited by no less than NASA to study in United States. At 14, he was
already able to solve complex calculus problems as shown live on
Japanese TV. He got a Guinness Book of World Record in its “Highest IQ” category, with a confirmed IQ level of 210.
2. Christopher Hirata
Christopher Hirata’s IQ level is
phenomenal at 225. At the age of 4, he already became part of Caltech.
At 12, he was already taking up college-level courses in physics and
calculus. At 13, he already won the gold medal during the International
Physics Olympiad in 1996, making him the youngest American to have won
the award. At 16, he was already
working with NASA in its plans of conquering Mars. At 22, he already got
his Ph.D. Hirata is a certified child prodigy and is currently teaching
astrophysics in the California Institute of Technology.
1. Terence Tao
Terence Tao, a gifted guy with an
outstanding IQ level of 230, has truly amazed people with his toddler
days when he would solve arithmetic questions at the age of 2. At 9, he
was already at college level and he was already able to obtain a
Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees at the age of 16. He got his Ph. D. from
Princeton at a very young age of 20. Tao has received impressive awards
under his belt—2000 Salem Prize and the 2003 Clay Research Award are
just some of them. He is also the youngest full professor of UCLA.
