12-year-old Sussex maths whizz set for university (From The Argus)
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12-year-old Sussex maths whizz set for university
12:30pm Saturday 8th September 2012 in News
12-year-old Sussex maths whizz set for university
He is too young for Facebook and is only allowed a mobile phone for emergencies.
But aged just 12 years old, maths whizz Xavier Gordon-Brown is the youngest university student in Britain.
Brainy Xavier has started a degree in maths at the Open University. The child prodigy only celebrated his 12th birthday last month but while his classmates at Oathall Community College are just getting to grips with algebra, Xavier is studying abstract structures, vector calculus and Newtonian mechanics in his spare time.
He fits his degree into the free hours, between practicing for Grade eight on the clarinet, piano and violin, learning three languages and playing football with his friends.
Despite his intellect, Xavier has to be accompanied to his lectures on Monday evenings by his mother because of his age.
But even in a room full of students twice his age he is still top of the class.
His proud mother Erica, of Haywards Heath, said: “He absolutely loves it.
“It’s one of those things we thought about for a while, but seeing how much he enjoys it has made it all worthwhile.
“People make a lot out of keeping children in their age group, but it is good for him to be amongst his intel- lectual equals too.
“When he’s with kids his own age he’s fine, but when it comes to maths he needs to be with people on his intellectual level.
“He’s at school full time and then goes to Open University lectures in East Grinstead two to three times a month.
“When he goes to his lectures he has to have an adult with him because of his age. When I go I absolutely don’t understand a word of what’s going on.
“But he’s not falling behind. If anything he’s top of the class.
“And everyone gets on with him really well. He plays football every Sunday and it is good to give him something to talk about with his age group.”
Intelligent Xavier enjoys all his normal lessons at Oathall Community College in Haywards Heath and has also taught himself Latin in his spare time.
However, he is not always perfect in everything.
“He gets 100% in most things, ”said his mum.
“But if he gets 95% he’s not very happy.”
Xavier knew his times tables before he was four and could do double-digit mental arithmetic before starting school.
He got an A* in his maths GCSE when he was just eight. By the age of ten he had his maths A-level and could recite and memorise 2,000 digits of Pi.
Comments(10)
anubis
says...
3:02pm Sat 8 Sep 12
There are plenty of illustrations of similar amazing (!) 'abilities' in youngsters -- after all David Hume (one of our greatest philosophers -- still a VERY good and RELEVANT read today, 300 years later!) entered Cambridge a little younger -- while John Stuart Mill (his autobiography remains a 'best seller') was translating Greek and Latin poetry at half that age and studied the works of Aristotle, Plato, Jeremy Bentham, Thomas Hobbes, David Ricardo and Adam Smith before reaching the age of twelve.
Not sure either suffered consequentially -- there seems no evidence of any parental 'compulsion' in this latest case?! If GS has 'inside information', maybe he'll share it with us?
george smith
says...
5:22pm Sat 8 Sep 12
Maxwell's Ghost
says...
6:17pm Sat 8 Sep 12
Whether it leads to a good job or creating something useful to the world is questionable. Ruth Lawrence was a child maths genius and now teaches maths at a US uni so nothing added to the greater world.
James Harries was a child antique expert who became........a woman.
longman
says...
8:03pm Sat 8 Sep 12
My friend's daughter joined the OU when she was 15. She had to go to Milton Keynes (OU Head Office) for an interview to ensure that she was capable enough to take the various courses offered. I imagine this child will have had to have done the same thing.
As for Ruth Lawrence, the last I heard about her, she had emigrated to Israel, converted to Judaism and was a stay at home mother!
Maxwell's Ghost
says...
10:20pm Sat 8 Sep 12
qm
says...
11:02am Sun 9 Sep 12
There is however one thing that casts a shadow over this young mans bright future and for which his parents alone are responsible.
Burdening him with a 'Gordon Brown' label is about the most unkind thing anyone could ever do for their child short of abuse or neglect!
redwing
says...
11:11am Sun 9 Sep 12
Maxwell's Ghost wrote:Fact: most of the world's work is done by women.
Maybe Ruth put two and two together and learned that multiplying and staying at home was better than working.
Presumably you wouldn't agree, as most of it is done for no wage/salary and therefore is entirely discounted.
Be mindful that whether she's been paid or not, you'll have lived off the back of a woman somewhere for a considerable time in your life, if not now. Without her work you'd not be here at all.
Maxwell's Ghost
says...
7:27pm Sun 9 Sep 12
It's rather like the Two Ronnied film The Worm That Turned.
Men are doomed, so bearing that in mind I'm off to the pub while the missus does the washing and puts a new clutch in the car.
MoronSpotter
says...
11:01am Mon 10 Sep 12
gusset snatcher says...
1:06pm Sat 8 Sep 12