How Geniuses.club Estimates IQ
Most famous people never took an IQ test. Here is exactly how every estimate on Geniuses.club is scored, with its range and its reasons.
Most famous people never took an IQ test. Every Geniuses.club profile still shows a number, so we say exactly where each one comes from. Where no test is on record, the figure is a Geniuses.club Historiometric Estimate: a scored judgement from documented achievements, published with its range and its reasons. It is not a test score, and we never present it as one.
Twenty questions, eight minutes on the clock, and a percentile measured against everyone who has taken it. No sign-up.
Take the IQ test →Bottom line
- A test result on record always comes first. An estimate is used only when no test exists.
- Every estimate starts at 140 and adds points only for achievements that are documented in standard biographies.
- Every estimate carries a range of plus or minus 10 points. The single number is the middle of that range.
- No estimate is ever published for anyone under 18.
- No estimate is published for serving politicians of any party. When one makes an IQ claim, we fact-check the claim instead: see Donald Trump's IQ, Fact-Checked.
The scoring rules (version 1, 8 October 2026)
- Base 140: the person belongs to the historical canon of a field.
- Plus 15: founded or transformed a field. Plus 8: a major contribution that did not transform the field.
- Plus 10: documented adult-level work or university entry before 18. Plus 5: major, lasting work in the early twenties.
- Plus 10: frontier work in mathematics, logic or theoretical physics. Plus 5: work that is partly formal.
- Plus 5: major contributions in two or more fields.
- Plus 5: a top-tier award such as a Nobel Prize or a Fields Medal.
The approach follows Catharine Cox, whose 1926 study estimated IQs for 301 historical figures from biographical records. Like hers, these are estimates, and the range matters as much as the number.
Why we publish a number
Readers ask for one, and the internet already supplies thousands, most with no basis at all. Our research found that 61% of famous IQ figures have no traceable source (Famous IQ Claims, Fact-Checked). A figure with stated rules, a range and named reasons is more honest than a bare number copied from a list.
Current estimates (first batch)
- John Nash: 175 (range 165–185). Nash equilibrium transformed game theory (+15); thesis at 21 (+5); frontier mathematics (+10); Nobel Prize 1994 (+5).
- Paul Dirac: 175 (range 165–185). Dirac equation and quantum theory (+15); major work at 23 to 26 (+5); theoretical physics (+10); Nobel Prize 1933 (+5).
- Werner Heisenberg: 175 (range 165–185). Matrix mechanics and the uncertainty principle (+15); matrix mechanics at 23 (+5); theoretical physics (+10); Nobel Prize 1932 (+5).
- Archimedes: 170 (range 160–180). Transformed mathematics and mechanics (+15); frontier mathematics (+10); mathematics and engineering (+5).
- Kurt Gödel: 170 (range 160–180). Incompleteness theorems transformed logic (+15); proved them at 25 (+5); frontier logic (+10).
- Niels Bohr: 170 (range 160–180). Atomic model and quantum theory (+15); theoretical physics (+10); Nobel Prize 1922 (+5).
- Carl Sagan: 168 (range 158–178). Major planetary science (+8); entered the University of Chicago at 16 (+10); astrophysics partly formal (+5); science and communication (+5).
- Aristotle: 165 (range 155–175). Founded formal logic and systematic biology (+15); logic is formal work (+5); major work in many fields (+5).
- Plato: 165 (range 155–175). Founded the Academy and much of Western philosophy (+15); mathematical philosophy (+5); several fields (+5).
- Friedrich Nietzsche: 160 (range 150–170). Transformed modern philosophy (+15); Basel professor at 24 (+5).
- Karl Marx: 160 (range 150–170). Founded a school of economics and social theory (+15); economics, history and philosophy (+5).
- Thomas Aquinas: 160 (range 150–170). Synthesised scholastic philosophy and theology (+15); scholastic logic partly formal (+5).
- Thomas Edison: 160 (range 150–170). Transformed electric power, sound recording and film (+15); telegraph inventions as a teenager (+5).
- Carl Jung: 155 (range 145–165). Founded analytical psychology (+15).
- Socrates: 155 (range 145–165). Founded the Socratic method of Western ethics (+15).
- Stanley Kubrick: 153 (range 143–163). Major film director (+8); professional photographer for Look magazine at 17 (+5).
- Christopher Hitchens: 148 (range 138–158). Major essayist and critic (+8).
Corrections
Every estimate is open to challenge. Send a documented achievement we missed, or a test result on record, to press@geniuses.club. We rescore and date every change.