Flo and Kay Lyman vs Jacob Barnett
Two savants, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Flo and Kay Lyman | Jacob Barnett | |
| Field | Mathematics | Science |
| Sub-field | Mathematician | Physics |
| Born | 1956 | 1998 |
| Died | living / not documented | living / not documented |
| Country of birth | - | - |
| Star sign | - | Gemini |
Who they are
Jacob Barnett
At two, Jacob Barnett stopped talking. He had been an unusually attentive infant — staring at patterns of light, fixated by repeating shapes — but the verbal regression that followed his second birthday was severe enough that his parents were told he might never speak again. The diagnosis was autism. He was eventually evaluated as having moderate to severe autism with associated learning impairment. By eleven, he was an undergraduate at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis. By thirteen, he had completed a master's thesis in theoretical physics. By nineteen, he was a doctoral student at the…
Full biography of Jacob Barnett →
What they share
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- Different fields: Mathematics for Flo and Kay Lyman, Science for Jacob Barnett.
- 42 years separate their births (1956 and 1998).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Flo and Kay Lyman or Jacob Barnett?
- Flo and Kay Lyman. Flo and Kay Lyman was born in 1956, Jacob Barnett in 1998.
- What field is each of them in?
- Flo and Kay Lyman is filed under Mathematics (Mathematician). Jacob Barnett is filed under Science (Physics).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.