Are These 10, The Most Intelligent People Ever?

Have you ever wished that you had the mind of one of your friends? I remember a friend of mine that seemed to have a photographic memory and she would study 10 times faster than me at university, not only that she would remember everything and be able to reason through the material with ease.

She amazed me when she told me she was doing a finance and law degree simultaneously. In the time it took us regular folk to achieve one degree, she already had two and a year later she had a higher degree in law, a postgraduate law degree, and she was going to complete her master’s degree too.

She was very impressive. But not as impressive as the people I have listed below. These are some people that I think were even more impressive than my friend. I never found out what her IQ was, probably around 150, I would think, but I am merely speculating.

The list of intellects below goes from lower IQ’s (although they are very high) to higher IQ’s. Remembering that most of these IQ scores are estimates and measured with different tests, so this list is not in perfect order from lowest to highest.

Intellect 1

To start the list of super intellects, let’s begin with Thomas Young. He was a physicist and physician, already he sounds impressive. His contributions were to the fields of physiology, anatomy, language, light and vision. He also assisted with deciphering the Rosetta Stone, being an Egyptologist, one of his most brilliant discoveries was how the human eye worked regarding the lense and the cause for the condition called ‘astigmatism.’ Young was also a pioneer in how the eye perceives various colours.

His IQ was between 185 to 200.

Intellect 2

Nicolaus Copernicus, with his heliocentric model of the universe was a breakthrough in cosmology. They estimated his IQ to be between 160 and 200.

Intellect 3

Gottfried Leibniz, the inventor of differential and integrated calculus, known as a logician, and he also postulated a theory of motion called dynamics. He also contributed to language philosophy and the principle of plenty of reason, necessary and contingent truths, oh boy do we need more like him right now. They estimated his IQ to be 182 to 200.

Intellect 4

Rudolf Clausius a mathematician who formulated the second law of thermodynamics. He helped to make thermodynamics a science and developed a kinetic theory of gases. He theorised molecules comprise interchanging atoms, establishing a basis for electrolytic dissociation. They estimated his IQ to be from 190 to 205.

Intellect 5

James Maxwell, well known for formulating a theory of electromagnetic radiation. He was also lauded as laying the foundation for Quantum Theory, and Einstein revered him, more so than Newton. His IQ ranged from 190 to 205.

Intellect 6

Isaac Newton, famous for his law of gravitation he was the leader of the scientific revolution of the 17th Century. He wrote a book called the ‘Principia Mathematica’ which is renowned as a very influential book of physics and all of science. IQ estimated to be 190 to 200.

Intellect 7

Leonardo da Vinci, he was a man of many hats, an engineer, mathematician, sculptor, painter, inventor, architect, anatomist, botanist, cartographer, writer. He was probably the person with the most diversified skill set in all of history.

His IQ ranged from 180 to 220 depending on the measure.

He is renowned for his painting and his inventions like flying machines, adding machines, concentrated solar power and even armoured vehicles.

Intellect 8

The next guy needs little introduction, Albert Einstein, he had an IQ estimated to be 200 to 225, depending on the measure. He is best known for his mass energy formula E = MC².

He also attempted to disprove Quantum Theory.

Intellect 9

Now let’s move on to Einstein’s hero, Johann Goethe. Albert Einstein said that Goethe was the last man on the planet to know everything, he was a phenomenal contributor to the science of chemistry and he was a polymath which is a person who has a lot of knowledge about a vast number of subjects. His talent was also clear in his poetic drama ‘Faust’ which is still read widely today, he contributed to western literature and founding chemistry.

They estimate his IQ to be in the range from 210 to 225.

Intellect 10

The little known man who had the highest IQ was William Sidis, who at 2 years old could read the New York Times. He could also type letters on his typewriter, in both English and French. He invented nothing great, as his family life was lacking love. They accepted him into Harvard at 9 years of age. I wrote about his life in a previous article entitled 'Something Profound But Simple Destroyed The Highest IQ Man.'

It was rather sad that his parents treated him more than a freak exhibit than a loved child and the world missed out on nurturing such potential. His IQ was between 200 and 300 depending on the measure. Sidis passed away at 46 years of age from a stroke.

Let me know if I have things right or if you would have a completely different list to me?