<p>@kaekae - Kim Peek has agenisis of the corpus collosum. This allows him to have a staggering memory/calculating abilities, but does no permit him to, say, play the piano exceptionally well despite his memory of pieces. He doesn’t necessarily have the operational abilities of a “genius”, or one with an extremely high proficiency for something [that’s my understanding of genius - at least part of what it is to be a genius].
Richard Feynman - hands down [for Physics]. Or Stephen Hawking. Both Nobel prizewinners. I guess Oppenheimer was kinda cool too. Wow, too many smart people in that field…can’t say.<br>
Oscar Wilde [plays/prose] or Seamus Heaney [poetry] for Literature. Ya, I skipped over Shakespeare, I went there!! ;)</p>
<p>I’ve always found Leonardo Da Vinci fascinating. I would love to just sit and pick his brain.</p>
<p>@Whomovedmycheese: In terms of Physics, Feynman is indeed one of the very best. But what makes him one of the best? His original theories? His popular and quirky humor? His overall intellect? He’s my favorite all-time physicist right after Dirac, but I’m aware that he is absolutely horrible in English and other Language Arts subjects.</p>
<p>James Clerk Maxwell, Carl Friedrich Gauss, and Ted Nugent</p>
<p>Leonardo da Vinci, Einstein, Aristotle</p>
<p>E. E. Cummings</p>
<p>^^^Lawl, why exactly did you say that? Just random?</p>
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<p>Willy on wheels. :):):):):)</p>
<p>Beethoven/Tchaikovsky/Chopin/Liszt are all musical geniuses. Yeah Mozart probably is too but I’m not such a fan of his music. (lil’ wayne is up there too :P)</p>
<p>socrates and nietzche</p>
<p>Obviously DataBox :rolleyes:</p>
<p>^no. <em>shakes head</em></p>
<p>It is obviously Maple …</p>
<p>…or was… til’ he died :(</p>
<p>Stu Ungar- best poker player ever</p>
<p>I would say Da Vinci</p>
<p>@trumpetgirl: what happened to Maple?</p>
<p>Smartest? How can you measure smart-ness?</p>
<p>But as for brilliance and wit, I’d have to go with writers (math/science orientated people might sneer at me for this). Plus, the good writers write stuff that’s just genious!</p>
<p>Philip Glass, Blaise Pascal, John Milton, Jan van Eyck, Ezra Pound for their incredible ingenuity</p>
<p>Sarah Palin</p>
<p>Nikola Tesla</p>
<p>Here we go</p>
<p>[The</a> 10 best mathematicians | Culture | The Observer](<a href=“http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/apr/11/the-10-best-mathematicians]The”>The 10 best mathematicians | Culture | The Guardian)</p>
<p>Terence Tao is a mothatr*ckin genius, the boy won in the IMO at age 13, talk about being gifted.</p>