Stephen Wiltshire vs Flo and Kay Lyman
Two savants, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Stephen Wiltshire | Flo and Kay Lyman | |
| Field | Science | Mathematics |
| Sub-field | Astronomy | Mathematician |
| Born | 1974 | 1956 |
| Died | living / not documented | living / not documented |
| Country of birth | - | - |
| Star sign | Taurus | - |
Who they are
Stephen Wiltshire
In October 2005, a thirty-one-year-old autistic British artist was flown by helicopter over Tokyo. He did not speak during the flight. He stared at the city. He held a sketchpad. When the helicopter landed, he was asked, in a Tokyo gallery the following week, to begin drawing what he had seen. He drew, over the next several days, the entire Tokyo skyline — every building, in correct architectural detail, from a single forty-five-minute aerial observation. The drawing, when finished, measured ten metres long. It was, in technical terms, complete. Stephen Wiltshire had, by then, been…
Full biography of Stephen Wiltshire →
What they share
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- Different fields: Science for Stephen Wiltshire, Mathematics for Flo and Kay Lyman.
- 18 years separate their births (1974 and 1956).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Stephen Wiltshire or Flo and Kay Lyman?
- Flo and Kay Lyman. Stephen Wiltshire was born in 1974, Flo and Kay Lyman in 1956.
- What field is each of them in?
- Stephen Wiltshire is filed under Science (Astronomy). Flo and Kay Lyman is filed under Mathematics (Mathematician).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.