Russia has always been famous for its bright minds. Poets and writers, chemists and physicists, philosophers and teachers - throughout history there have been many people who have made a significant contribution to the development of world science and culture. And who can be called the smartest in our country now?

Mind indicator

Many people ask who they are - the smartest people in Russia. To answer this question, first you need to understand what, in fact, is called intellect and mind. The “smart” label is usually given to the person who can quickly solve a complex problem or, in front of everyone, offer a solution to a non-standard everyday problem. Usually, around such a person, exclamations do not subside: “How smart you are!” But it is possible to objectively determine the smartest people in Russia and in the world using such an indicator as the level of intelligence. More than half of the world's population has an IQ of about 110. Only 2.5% of the population boasts an IQ of over 130. Only 0.5% have an IQ of 0.5. The debate about who is in the top ten most intelligent people in Russia does not subside to this day. Every day new minds are born on the territory of our Motherland. Their abilities in the future will become the subject of new heated debates among scientists and the public.

List of smartest people

• Mikhail Lomonosov.
• Nikolay Lobachesky.
• Sofia Kovalevskaya.
• Grigory Perelman.
• Anatoly Wasserman.
• Vitaly Ginzburg.
• Zhores Alferov.

And many others. Consider the biographies and interesting facts from the life of some of them.

Grigory Perelman

Among the smartest people in Russia, the first place, of course, belongs to the mathematician Grigory Perelman. He gained his fame due to the fact that he was able to prove the Poincare conjecture, and it is included in the list of seven Millennium Problems. It should be noted that this pretentious name was invented by journalists who did not want to attract the attention of the public. It was invented by the scientists themselves. The Poincaré hypothesis ranks sixth on the list of these problems. Moreover, scientists emphasize its mathematical complexity.

For the general public, Grigory Perelman became known for his unusual style, which is completely at odds with the general idea of ​​​​how a scientist should look like. Interestingly, the smartest person in Russia refused the prize, which is awarded to any person who has managed to solve one of the Millennium Problems. The prize amount is $1 million. A little later after the award of this prize, Perelman was awarded the Fields Medal (scientists often call this award the Nobel Prize in Mathematical Research). Together with this medal, Perelman was to receive 15 thousand Canadian dollars. However, the scientist ignored this award.

Qualities without which discoveries are impossible

Almost nothing is known about the life of Grigory Perelman. He lives with his mother in a Khrushchev-type apartment, in rather cramped conditions. Of interest are interviews with those scientists who know the great mathematician personally. For example, from an interview with Sergei Rushkin, it became known that Perelman had been working on proving the most complex mathematical hypothesis for about nine years. The mathematician demonstrated the strongest concentration of attention and focus on the problem - unlike many contemporaries subject to "clip" thinking. During the work, Grigory Perelman did not know if he would be able to solve the problem he had set for himself. From childhood, he had a very important quality for any good scientist - the ability to focus on one problem for a long time without the hope of solving it.

Anatoly Wasserman - erudite and programmer

Many say that the smartest person in Russia is Anatoly Wasserman. He gained fame throughout the post-Soviet space thanks to his numerous victories in the intellectual shows "What, where, when?", "Own game" and others. Wasserman was born in Odessa, in a Jewish family. His father was one of the most famous specialists in the field of thermophysics. Little is known about the mother, however. Wasserman's father had a serious influence on his entire subsequent life. According to Wasserman himself, he learned to read at the age of three and a half years. At eleven, he had already begun to study a fifteen-volume encyclopedia devoted to mechanical engineering. By his 14th birthday, Wasserman knew her almost by heart.

Young years and modernity

For a long time, the erudite was included in the rating of the smartest people in Russia. However, Anatoly Wasserman was not an excellent student at school. During his school years, he had to defend himself against attacks from his spiteful peers, and later also from teachers. Their pride couldn't bear the fact that the student corrected the information they taught during the lesson. Thus, although today Anatoly Wasserman is among the smartest people in Russia, he never could boast of good grades in his school years.

In the intellectual "Own Game" in 2004, Wasserman took the place of the best player of the decade. After graduating, the famous erudite began working as a programmer, and at the age of 39 he tried himself in the journalistic field - he began writing articles for the computer press. Since 2012, he has been the host of the Wasserman Reaction TV program on REN-TV.

Vitaly Ginzburg - Nobel Prize winner

When asked what the name of the smartest person in Russia is, many answer with confidence: of course, this is Vitaly Ginzburg. Nobel Prize winner, author of numerous studies in the field of physics and astrophysics, academician - this is an incomplete list of what Ginzburg did during his lifetime. In addition to the Nobel Prize, the scientist received many more awards: he was awarded the Lenin and State Prizes of the USSR, the S. I. Vavilov medal, and the M. V. Lomonosov Prize. Unfortunately, the scientist passed away in 2009.

Vitaly Ginzburg was also known for his position in relation to religion, and in particular to Orthodoxy. He believed that faith is a personal choice for everyone, and openly opposed the planting of Orthodoxy in schools. Why did the scientist take this position? Everything is extremely simple: the basis of any religion is belief in the supernatural. And Ginzburg could not agree with the existence of miracles, since he had been engaged in physics all his life.

Scientist character

Ginzburg's love of freedom was also manifested in his actions: in the time of Stalin, he married a former prisoner, and in the 50s he completely fell under the "ideological skating rink". After all, then the open struggle of the authorities against the cosmopolitans began. Ginzburg took part in the creation of the hydrogen bomb - which is why, in spite of everything, Stalin attracted him to top-secret work and subsequently awarded him the State Prize.

Vitaly Ginzburg was sure that the future of Russia was in the hands of democracy, not authoritarianism. Science and education play an important role in the development of the country. Ginzburg believed that if education in Russia was given its due place, then many problems in the country would disappear by themselves.

Views on religion

Ginzburg made a big difference between the scientific and religious outlook. The existence of God, the scientist believes, does not need to be proved - if only because his fellow academicians have not proved the opposite point of view. Ginsburg also makes a distinction between religion and belief in God. “You can believe in the existence of God, or the Absolute (the names can be anything), but not profess any religion,” the scientist emphasizes. He regards religion as a belief in miracles and fairy tales, and considers the Bible and the Koran a collection of miracles and a set of moral and ethical rules. To consider them sacred books or not, the scientist emphasizes, is a personal matter for believers.

Grigory Perelman

Grigory Perelman solved the first of the seven mathematical “millennium problems”, and when the scientific community finally read his work (Perelman himself did not make any attempts to publish), he twice wanted to give “Grisha Perelman” money.

But Perelman refused the money, saying that the American scientist Hamilton also contributed to the solution of this problem, so he considers the decision of the mathematical community to be incorrect.

In December 2006, Perelman's proof of Poincaré's theory was named the top scientific breakthrough of the year by Science magazine. In April 2011, in the first interview after a long lull, Grigory Perelman explained his refusal of a million dollars by the fact that this money is nothing for "the person who controls the Universe."

Stephen Hawking (IQ 160)

Stephen Hawking can be called the most famous scientist and popularizer of science today.

Films are made according to his biography, he plays a cameo in popular TV shows and is a cartoon character.

Hawking is a specialist in black holes and cosmology, from 1979 to 2009 he served as the Lucas Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University: this prestigious post was held in the 18th century by Isaac Newton. In 2009, Hawking became an honorary Lukasian professor at Cambridge.

Hawking is often referred to as the scientist who made the biggest contribution to astronomy, cosmology, black hole theory, and the understanding of gravity since Einstein.

Kim Ung-Yong (IQ 210)

Kim Ung-Yong was born in Korea in 1963. At the age of two, he knew five languages, then taught the language for a month.

At the age of three, the child knew algebra, at five he solved the most complex differential equations.

From the age of 4 to 7, Kim Ung-Yong attended the Department of Physics at Hanyang University, and in 1970 he received an invitation and a scholarship from NASA (NASA, USA). Also University of Colorado (Colorado State University) received a Ph.D. in physics at the age of 15 years.

Returning to his homeland in 1978 after working for NASA, Kim received another degree, this time in civil engineering, and began to work in this area. Kim has published almost a hundred scientific papers on hydraulics.
As of 2007, Ung-Yong was a professor at Chungbuk National University.
In September 2012, Kim Ung-Yong was officially listed as one of the "10 smartest people in the world".

Bill Gates (IQ 160)

We could not ignore the pioneers of the computer age and not mention Bill Gates.
In 1973, Bill Gates entered his freshman year at Harvard University, but left in his third year to devote himself to Microsoft, the company he founded in 1975 with Paul Allen.

Firmly convinced that the PC would become indispensable in every workplace and in every home, they began to develop software for personal computers.

Bill Gates is one of the richest people in the world. He is actively involved in charity work, writes articles and books. Bill Gates was one of the first people in history to show that with the mind you can earn not just big, but very big money, very, very much.

Terence Tao (IQ 230)

Terence Tao knew the basics of algebra at the age of two, attended university mathematics courses at nine, received a doctorate in mathematics from Princeton at 20, and at 24 became the youngest professor at the University of California. He has written more than 250 scientific papers.

In 2006, the young scientist received the Fields Prize, a year later he became a member of the Royal Society of London, a year later a member of two US Academies, and in 2010 he became a laureate of the King Faisal International Prize for Science.

Daniel Tammet

Daniel Tammet is one of the most famous savants - the owners of the "island of genius" in any area that contrasts with the limitations of the individual. Tammet was not always a savant.

He grew up as an ordinary child, but then he began to have epileptic seizures, after which he discovered superpowers in himself.

Tammet is able to perform the most complex calculations in his head, in March 2004 he broke the world record by reproducing the number P to 22,514 decimal places in five hours and nine minutes. At the same time, Daniel does not count the numbers, but feels them. He admitted: “I represent numbers in the form of visual images. They have color, texture, shape. Numerical sequences appear in my mind as landscapes. Like pictures. It’s as if the universe with its fourth dimension is emerging in my head.” Daniel also knows 11 languages, he is able to learn a new language in just a week. Tammet also invented his own language, which he called mänt

Zhores Alferov

Zhores Alferov was one of the creators of the electronic reality that we face every day. At the same time, he began work on it at a time when this was not talked about not only here, but also in the West.

The discoveries that led to qualitative changes in the development of all electronic technology Alferov made back in 1962-1974.

Today, all mobile phones have heterostructural semiconductors created by Alferov. All fiber-optic communication runs on its semiconductors and the Alferov laser. Without the "Alferov laser" CD players and disk drives of modern computers would be impossible. The scientist's discoveries are used in car headlights, traffic lights, and supermarket equipment - product label decoders.

A smart person or not is a rather subjective concept. Is it determined by IQ or is it all about achievement?

About 50 percent of people have an IQ between 90 and 110, 2.5 percent of people are mentally retarded with an IQ below 70, 2.5 percent of people are intellectually superior with an IQ above 130, and 0.5 percent are considered geniuses with an IQ above 140.

Although the debate over who is smart will probably never die down, it is unlikely that anyone will argue with the fact that these people can be called one of the smartest people in the world. Here are the 10 smartest people alive, according to independent web publication SuperScholar.org

1. Stephen Hawking

This is probably one of the most famous people from this list. Stephen Hawking became famous for his progressive research in theoretical physics and other works that explain the laws of the universe. He is also the author of 7 bestsellers and the winner of 14 awards.

2. Kim Ung-Yong


IQ 210

Kim Ung-Yong is a child prodigy from Korea who entered the Guinness Book of Records as the owner of the highest IQ in the world. At the age of 2, he was fluent in two languages, and by the age of 4 he was already solving complex mathematical problems. By the age of 8, he was invited by NASA to study in the USA.

3. Paul Allen


IQ 170

The co-founder of Microsoft is by far one of the most successful people who has turned his mind into wealth. With a fortune estimated at 14.2 billion dollars, Paul Allen is in 48th place in the list of the richest people in the world, being the owner of many companies and sports teams.

4. Rick Rosner


IQ 192

With such a high IQ, it would hardly occur to you that this person works as a television producer. However, Rick is no ordinary genius. His track record mentions the work of a stripper, a waiter on roller skates, and a sitter.

5. Garry Kasparov


IQ 190

Garry Kasparov is the youngest undisputed world chess champion, who won this title at the age of 22. He holds the record for the longest holding the title of world number one chess player. In 2005, Kasparov announced his retirement from sports and devoted himself to politics and writing.

6. Sir Andrew Wiles


IQ 170

In 1995, renowned British mathematician Sir Andrew Wiles proved Fermat's Last Theorem, which was considered the most difficult mathematical problem in the world. He is the recipient of 15 awards in mathematics and science.

7. Judit Polgar


IQ 170

Judit Polgar is a Hungarian chess player who at the age of 15 became the youngest grandmaster in the world, surpassing Bobby Fischer's record by a month. Her father taught her and her sisters chess at home, proving that children can reach incredible heights if started from a very young age.

8. Christopher Hirata


IQ 225

At the age of 14, American Christopher Hirata entered the California Institute of Technology, and at the age of 16 he was already working for NASA on projects related to the colonization of Mars. Also at the age of 22, he received his PhD in astrophysics.

9. Terence Tao


IQ 230

Tao was a gifted child. By the age of 2, when most of us were actively learning to walk and talk, he was already doing basic arithmetic. By age 9, he was taking university-level math courses and at 20 received his Ph.D. from Princeton University. At the age of 24, he becomes the youngest professor at UCLA. For all the time he published more than 250 scientific papers.

10. James Woods


IQ 180

American actor James Woods was a brilliant student. He enrolled in a linear algebra course at the prestigious UCLA and then enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he decided to leave politics for acting. He has three Emmy Awards and two Oscar nominations.

Not so long ago, I was able to completely solve a crossword puzzle. Almost completely - only 3 or 4 words remained unsolved. I was proud of this achievement, told my friends about it (yes, all two) and even thought about getting a tattoo in honor of this event. But the moment I decided to edit the Wikipedia article about the smartest person on the planet, I was disappointed. Disappointment dug into my ankle, growled and tore my pants: seeing the biographies of other great people of the planet, I realized that the main achievement of my life is somewhat inferior to the accomplishments of other smart people. I had no choice but to talk about the 10 greatest geniuses of mankind.

Rating of the most brilliant scientists

Years of life: 11/07/1867 - 07/04/1934 (66 years old)

Maria's maiden name, Skłodowska, is of Polish origin. Curie is the surname of her husband, Pierre Curie, who died in 1906 (they were married for 11 years). After the death of her husband, Maria began to devote more time to work, studying radioactive radiation. During the First World War, she taught doctors how to use X-rays to take pictures.

Maria is undoubtedly the most famous and female scientist. She is the first and, to date, the only woman to win the Nobel Prize twice. One of the chemical elements, curium (Ci), is named after the Curie couple. Unfortunately, long-term experiments with radioactive uranium did not go unnoticed - radiation sickness led to the death of Marie Curie from leukemia.

9th place. Stephen Hawking

Year of birth: 01/08/1942 (aged 73)

Hawking is the only living member of this rating. He graduated from Oxford and Cambridge and is a professor of mathematics and theoretical physicist, as well as the founder of the science of quantum cosmology. For his achievements in the field of science, he received a total of 25 medals and awards. He studied the theory of the Big Bang and the nature of the origin of black holes, in which he achieved some success.

Around the age of 20, Hawking began to develop amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, as a result of which he was confined to a wheelchair. He was completely paralyzed and Hawking has to communicate with those around him with the help of a special speech synthesizer that reacts to the facial expressions of the cheek, which has retained mobility. In the same way, this scientist can use a computer. This circumstance probably played a role in Hawking's popularity - his outstanding work against the backdrop of such a depressing illness is admirable.

Stephen Hawking made a lot of efforts to popularize science. It is no wonder that he is so fond of being mentioned in various popular TV shows: Hawking voiced himself in several episodes of The Simpsons and Futurama, appeared twice in the TV series The Big Bang Theory and other shows less known to the domestic audience. And in 2015, Eddie Redmayne won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role as young Steven in the film The Universe of Stephen Hawking. So Hawking is undoubtedly the most popular modern scientist.

8. Plato

Years of life: 427 BC - 347 BC (80 years old)

Plato, the famous philosopher of antiquity, was noted for opening the Academy in Athens - the first higher educational institution among Western civilizations. Aristotle was one of the first students of this Academy. It studied not only philosophy: special attention was paid to mathematics and astronomy, a little less to the natural sciences.

To bring the education system to a new level, which gave rise to many outstanding minds in Greek, and later in Roman culture, and contributed to the development of mathematics, is no doubt a significant merit. Over the past century, Plato's philosophical ideas have often been subject to criticism, although they still have their followers. For example, the doctrine of the immortal soul was reflected in many common Christian religions.

7th place. Aristotle

Years of life: 384 BC - 322 BC (62 years old)

It seems not logical - in 7th place is Aristotle, in 8th - his teacher, Plato. In fact, everything is very logical - Aristotle's contribution to science was more multifaceted. Plato was an ancient thinker, focusing almost all his attention on politics, sociology and, of course, philosophy.

Aristotle went further - he began to pay attention to physics, having written several works in this area, he studied sociology. Aristotle laid down the general principles of logic that are still used today. It was he who introduced the concepts of ethics and ethics. Also, Aristotle did not hesitate to question some of the concepts of Plato, for example, arguing about the inseparability of the soul and body. Another significant item in Aristotle's resume is that he was one of the mentors of Alexander the Great.

6th place. Archimedes

Years of life: 287 BC - 212 BC (75 years old)

Unlike the comrades we mentioned above, Archimedes was not a philosopher - he was engaged in mathematics, physics, and engineering. He owns a lot of discoveries in the field of geometry and mechanics. The ideas of Archimedes surprised his contemporaries a lot, thanks to which amazing rumors circulated about him during his lifetime.

It is he who is credited with the saying "Give me a fulcrum, and I will turn the whole world upside down." According to another popular legend, Archimedes figured out how to measure the volume of the crown when he immersed himself in a bathtub, displacing water from it. With a cry of "Eureka!" the scientist jumped naked into the street to test his guess as soon as possible.

The older generation remembers an excellent and rather informative Soviet cartoon about Archimedes:

The historian Plutarch details how the Romans laid siege to Archimedes' hometown of Syracuse. With the help of the machines invented by Archimedes, it was possible to repulse any attacks of the Roman troops from land and sea: powerful stone throwers threw attackers at short and long distances, and special cranes picked up and threw enemy ships.

As a result, the assault failed and the Roman troops had to go over to the siege. In the autumn of 2012 BC. the city fell and Archimedes himself was killed. How exactly this happened is unknown - there are several different stories about the death of the great scientist. But everyone agrees that the consul Marcellus, who commanded the Roman legions, did not want the death of the old man, realizing what a priceless treasure his mind is.

5th place. Galileo Galilei

Years of life: 02/15/1564 - 01/08/1642 (77 years old)

Galileo is perceived by many as a symbol of the confrontation between science and the church. In many ways, this was true - Galileo defended the idea that the Earth, along with other planets, moves around the Sun, while it remains motionless. Copernicus first came to this, but his teaching was banned by the Catholic Church. Under pressure from the Inquisition, Galileo had to “repent” and defend the truth more carefully so as not to formally violate the ban.

Galileo was the first to use a telescope to observe celestial bodies. He was able to detect the moons of Jupiter, sunspots and discover the fact that the Sun rotates on its axis. This discovery prompted Galileo to put forward the hypothesis that the Earth rotates on its axis in the same way - this seemed more logical than the idea that the entire Universe makes a complete revolution around our planet in a day.

In addition to the telescope, Galileo also has other inventions: the first thermometer, a microscope (though relatively primitive), and a proportional compass. Galileo was fond of not only astronomy, but also physics, was interested in optics and acoustics. He was the first to experimentally establish the density of air (not entirely accurate, but close to the truth).

Einstein and Stephen Hawking expressed the idea that Galileo is the father of modern science. His confrontation with church dogmas allowed many generations of scientists to believe that a person can understand the foundations of the universe. Although Galileo remained a Catholic, he did not change his other faith - in what he considered true. And some of his works became the basis for Newton's discoveries.

4th place. Leonardo da Vinci

Years of life: 04/15/1452 - 05/02/1519 (67 years old)

Leonardo da Vinci is the only representative of our rating whose main activity was not science. It was tempting to think of another great master, Michelangelo, but da Vinci certainly more than deserved his place in the ranking of the smartest. Although, in the first place, Leonardo became famous as an artist, he turned out to be a comprehensively developed personality (pardon the cliché): in addition to art, da Vinci was fond of mechanics, anatomy, medicine, literature and philosophy.

The most famous paintings by Leonardo: "La Gioconda" (Mona Lisa) and "The Last Supper". He painted in the genre of realism and was able to take this one to a new level by introducing certain innovations into it.

Leonardo was also an inventor. For a long time he worked on an aircraft that could rise and fall vertically. In his drafts, da Vinci outlined an idea that is now implemented in an airplane. The low quality of the materials available at that time did not allow him to create a working model of such a device. In our time, Leonardo is often portrayed as a kind of visionary genius who believed that science allows you to do real magic and achieve the impossible.

Here are some of da Vinci's other inventions: a parachute, a wheel-lock pistol, a bicycle, light portable bridges for the needs of the army, a two-lens telescope, and even a prototype tank. Yes, maybe Edison boasts a long list of inventions, but think about it - Leonardo was able to come up with all this 500 years ago, even before the advent of Galileo, at a time when the Inquisition ruled many processes in Europe, and serious scientific discoveries could be counted on the fingers.

3rd place. Nikola Tesla

Years of life: 07/10/1856 - 01/07/1943 (86 years old)

He was born on the territory of modern Croatia, but at the end of the 19th century he immigrated to the USA (Tesla is a Serb by nationality). It was he who became the man who brought alternating current into our world. The "war of currents" lasted for a long 100 years, until in 2007 Edison's direct current was finally defeated - New York completely switched to alternating current. And throughout the world, alternating current is most often used for transmission over long distances.

Tesla was the first to develop electric generators, modernized prototypes of which are used today. Nikola also contributed to the development of radio and radio-controlled technology. It was he who was the first to provide wireless current transmission - this technology has only recently begun to be put into practice (wireless chargers).

I almost forgot - once in the 30s, Tesla made an electric car

Nikola Tesla can deservedly be considered the most mysterious person in the scientific world, whose name is shrouded in a large number of legends and rumors. Some legends even attribute to him the explosion of the Tunguska meteorite (of course, In fact not a meteorite). Meanwhile, such an aura of mystery is not only the merit of the entertainment industry. Tesla had enough of his "cockroaches in his head":

• He was fanatically obsessed with cleanliness;
• He did not like women's earrings, especially with pearls;
• He had an amazing intuition - once he dissuaded his friends from getting on a train, which later went off the rails;
• Slept only a few hours a day;
• Settled only in those hotel rooms that are divided by 3;
• Walking along the street, he could do somersaults simply because of a good mood;
• He did not know how and could not work in a team;
• He did not build romantic relationships with women (as well as with men) - he was a virgin;
• On a walk, he liked to count the number of his steps, during lunch - the number of pieces of food, the volume of coffee cups or bowls of soup. If he failed to do this, he did not enjoy food.

This guy created the world we live in now. Do you know why? Without any benefit - just to make life more pleasant.

I think that this image will seem familiar to fans - they are such eccentric geniuses. Tesla has long been the most famous inventor and scientist not only in the United States, but throughout the world - and can still claim this title.

2nd place. Isaac Newton

Years of life: 01/04/1643 - 03/31/1727 (84 years old)

Isaac Newton studied physics, astronomy, mechanics and mathematics. It was he who brought physics into its "classical" form, dotting the "i" in many issues. In this Newton was helped by the work of his predecessors, especially Galileo. To describe all the work done by Newton would require a separate article, no less than this one.

The secret of his success was that Newton rejected the method of scientific research practiced for centuries with the help of logical guesses and constructions - this practice gave rise to many far-fetched theories. Instead, Newton developed and refined powerful mathematical methods of analysis (functions, differential equations, integrals) and viewed physics through the lens of mathematics rather than philosophy.

As a result, Newton was able to combine all the scientific experience that existed before him and supplement the missing elements. Thus, from beginning to end, the law of gravity and the law of motion (Newton's second law) were formulated. These important discoveries were able to explain a lot in astronomy and mechanics.

Newton devoted a lot of energy to research in the field of optics. He was able to create the first mirror telescope (reflector), which made it possible to achieve a sharper and clearer image than his lens predecessors. Newton was one of the first to consider optics as a science and build its evidence base: with formulas, explanations and proofs - before that, optics was just a set of facts.

Isaac was able to understand the nature of light and color. He was the first to understand and prove that the white color is not primary, but consists of a spectrum of all other colors - more precisely, from waves with different degrees of refraction. He published 3 books on optics, which explained the basic principles and concepts of dispersion, interference, diffraction and polarization of light.

It is curious that Newton was a deeply religious person. At the same time, he considered the Bible from a rational point of view, not embarrassed to question many church dogmas. Isaac rejected the doctrine of the Trinity (which he did not widely advertise in order not to have unnecessary problems with the law), studied the Hebrew language in order to independently study the Bible, published his interpretation of the book of Revelation and the chronology of biblical events, which he made based on his own research. According to his chronology, the end of the world was supposed to come no earlier than 2060.

The above list is far from all the achievements of this scientist, who lived 300 years ago, and, not having a computer with the Internet at hand, had knowledge that most of us did not even dream of.

1 place. Albert Einstein

Years of life: 03/14/1879 - 04/18/1955 (76 years old)

At the end of the 19th century, no one really aspired to be a theoretical physicist. After old Newton blew most of the white spots to smithereens, it seemed that physics became simple and understandable. It remained to deal with some minor issues, streamline everything and send out resumes in search of a new job. And everything was fine until the next problem with the speed of light was discovered.

At that time it was known that light is an electromagnetic wave. Consequently, the speed of its propagation was calculated using Maxwell's equations. And what happens if you try to calculate the speed of light of a spotlight that is on a moving train? Newtonian mechanics suggests the obvious answer - you need to add both speeds. But Maxwell's equations did not confirm such a result, depriving physicists of night rest and slipping them mountains of contradictions.

Repeated attempts by the scientific community to unravel the riddle did not bring results - Newton's proven and reliable mechanics were not questioned, and efforts to upgrade Maxwell's equations turned out to be fruitless. And only old Einstein figured it out and decided: probably, Maxwell's equations are correct - it was Newton who screwed up somewhere. Questioning Newton's mechanics is like criticizing the multiplication table - it seemed like an absolutely crazy idea. But non-standard thinking allowed Einstein to issue the special theory of relativity (SRT), which put everything in its place.

According to it, all physical processes in an irrational frame of reference occur in the same way, regardless of whether this frame is stationary or in a state of uniform rectilinear motion. Simply put, the speed of the searchlight on the train will be the same for the train driver, for the person remaining on the platform of the station, and for the searchlight itself - for everything in the world. It will always be equal to the speed of light, no matter how fast the spotlight moves. Also, based on SRT, there is a maximum allowable speed (the speed of light).

To be honest, the very essence of SRT is explained here extremely superficially and partially - perhaps only a few people can actually understand and formulate all the postulates of this theory. If you want to understand - the Internet to help. SRT gave rise to a certain number of paradoxes, which Einstein was able to explain in general relativity(OTO).

Among other achievements, Albert Einstein was noted for his contribution to the development of quantum physics, discovered the existence of induced radiation, which formed the basis for the creation of lasers, and received the Nobel Prize in 1922 for the theory of the photoelectric effect (SRT at that time was often criticized and was not universally recognized). Albert was also noted for a number of different inventions.

Despite significant achievements in science, Einstein remained a simple, friendly and sociable person with a good sense of humor. He positioned himself as a pacifist, speaking out more than once against fascism, violence and all kinds of injustice. The great scientist bequeathed after his death to celebrate a quiet funeral without publicity and magnificent ceremonies - he was an opponent of the personality cult. Only 12 of his closest friends attended the funeral ceremony. The body was cremated and the ashes scattered.

There are no indicators of reasonableness and measurers of the human mind. But how to determine who is the smartest person in the world at the moment? Let's start from the level of IQ. The higher this indicator, the smarter the person.

The smartest people in the world:

1. The highest IQ - 230 - belongs to the Australian citizen Terence Tao. This smartest man in the world first showed his erudition at the age of two. Young Terence was able to solve a simple arithmetic problem and even tried to teach his peer friend how to count.

By the age of five, Terence (Chinese by nationality) was fluent in English and was solving complex mathematical problems from the junior high school graduate program. From an early age, the genius fell in love with higher mathematics and often attended lectures. From the age of 12 he participated in international mathematical Olympiads.

In his youth, he expanded his specialization to the solution of differential equations of increased complexity. Started studying analytic number theory. At the age of 20 he became a professor at the University of California, received a doctorate.

Subsequently, he moved to Los Angeles, where he now teaches. By the age of 40 he became the author of 250 scientific publications.

1. Marilyn Vos Savant almost caught up with Terence Tao in terms of IQ. She has it equal to 228. She found her vocation in creativity. Marilyn is a popular American writer and journalist. In addition, she is known as a record holder in the Guinness rating for IQ.

Her journalistic activity sometimes discourages readers. She writes her column Ask Marilyn in Parade magazine, and also publishes puzzles and charades there.

Sometimes readers perceive her answers with surprise, since they do not always correspond to common sense. Therefore, there are both admirers of her mind and opponents who consider her intuitive answers unintelligent.

1. Another smartest person is the third person in our ranking. This is Christopher Hirata. His IQ is 225. Like most geniuses, his exclusivity was noticed from childhood. He always won school competitions, and at the age of 14 he became a student.

At 16, Christopher began working for NASA. He was engaged in the study of Mars and developed programs for the study of distant planets.

On his 22nd birthday, he received his PhD in astrophysics. Interested in the issues of energy conversion, gravity.

1. Kim Ung-Yong with an indicator of 210 is a real genius, and not just a smart person. At the age of four, he not only mastered four languages, but also learned to read them. Then he became famous thanks to television, when in front of the audience he solved the most difficult mathematical problem.

At the age of 8, Kim entered the University of Colorado on the recommendation of NASA. After graduating, he stayed to work there, and at the age of 18 he returned to Korea and became a teacher.

1. The Greek Evangelos Katsiulis, with an IQ ranging from 198 to 205, became famous in psychiatry. He leads a medical practice and conducts unique medical research in his specialty.

Interested in questions of genius, Evangelos founded several associations that brought together the smartest people on the planet. The psychiatrist excelled in philosophy - he received a doctorate in psychopharmacology.

1. American Christopher Langan is known to the world as a weight lifting champion. But he also boasts of his intelligence. His IQ is 195. However, Christopher could not develop his intellectual abilities since childhood, because after the departure of his father, his family experienced financial difficulties. In addition, no one worked with the boy, and he comprehended all the secrets of science and sports on his own.

At the age of one, Christopher has already learned to speak, and at the age of 4 - to read. While studying at the university, he was on an equal footing in knowledge with professors.

But the need to provide for his family made him fall out of the intellectual milieu for 20 years. However, after the personal life of the genius improved, he plunged headlong into science. A great stir was caused by his scientific work devoted to the theory of the cognitive model of the Universe.

1. Film actor and producer Rick Rosner has a high intellect (IQ - 192), but he learned about his genius already at a fairly mature age. All his life he strove for universal recognition and found peace only when he became the producer of his own television show.

Only after that he began to devote more time to science. On the way to fame, he had to work in many places. He was a waiter and a stripper, a model.

Having known fame, Rick does not stop working hard on his body - he trains every day and eats only healthy food. His main fear is old age and decay.

1. The Croatian scientist Mislav Predavech can boast of the same intellectual indicator (192). But the professor does not often use his intellect in everyday life. So, he does not want to think about how to replenish a mobile phone account or how to insert a SIM card into it. He entrusts these matters to his wife.

Intellectually, Mislav is only interested in how to pass difficult levels in computer games. He likes to solve puzzles and play Mafia.

1. Grandmaster Garry Kasparov has an IQ of 190. He is one of the ten smartest people on the planet. Glory came to Kasparov when he beat Anatoly Karpov and received the champion title. In 1997, he played several games with artificial intelligence in a draw.

Judging by the smart parents, it can be said that Harry inherited the high intelligence gene. Both mom and dad were engineers, they played chess well and loved to solve puzzles. So the future chess champion from childhood was surrounded by the right environment for the development of the mind.

1. Handsome film actor James Woods closes this rating with an IQ of 180. He has starred in more than 50 films, including the films Justice League, Superheroes, Once Upon a Time in America.

James's high IQ was discovered during his university years. Studying the future "superhero" was easy.

But his complex nature prevented him from achieving recognition in the scientific community. Professors refused to work with him due to the fact that James argued with them and did not care about their opinion.

As can be seen from this rating, a genius can be born, but not use his gift to study high matters or develop the most complex theories. Many of the smartest people with the highest IQs on the planet did not devote themselves to science, but used their minds to achieve mundane goals.