Daniel Tammet

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Daniel Paul Tammet

Daniel Tammet speaking at Reykjavík University
Born January 31, 1979 (1979-01-31) (age 29)
Flag of the United Kingdom London, England, UK
Spouse Neil Mitchell
Website
www.optimnem.co.uk

Daniel Paul Tammet (b. January 31, 1979) is a British high-functioning autistic savant gifted with a facility for mathematical and natural language learning. He was born the first of nine children to middle-class parents in London.[1] In his memoir, Born on a Blue Day, he talks of how having epilepsy, synaesthesia, and Asperger Syndrome all deeply affected his childhood.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Synaesthesia

Experiencing numbers as colours or sensations is a well-documented form of synaesthesia, but the detail and specificity of Tammet's mental imagery of numbers is unusual. In his mind, he says, each integer up to 10,000 has its own unique shape, colour, texture and feel. He can intuitively "see" results of calculations as synesthesic landscapes without using conscious mental effort, and that he can "sense" whether a number is prime or composite. He has described his visual image of 289 as particularly ugly, 333 as particularly attractive, and pi as beautiful. 6 apparently has no distinct image.[1][2] Tammet not only verbally describes these visions, but has also created artwork: a watercolour painting of Pi.

Tammet was the subject of a documentary in the UK entitled The Boy With The Incredible Brain, which was first broadcast on the British television channel Five on May 23, 2005.[3] The documentary showed highlights of his pi recitation feat, studying the Icelandic language (which is considered particularly difficult) in one week and his meeting with Kim Peek, a world famous savant. In one moment of the show, Peek hugged Tammet and told him, "Some day you will be as great as I am," to which Tammet replied that "that was a wonderful compliment, what an aspiration to have."

[edit] Pi

Tammet holds the European record for reciting pi to 22,514 digits in five hours and nine minutes.[4] This sponsored charity challenge was held in aid of the National Society for Epilepsy (NSE) on “Pi Day”, March 14, 2004, at the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, UK.[5] The NSE was chosen to benefit from this event because of Tammet's experience with epilepsy as a young child. Professor Allan Snyder at the Australian National University said of Tammet: "Savants can't usually tell us how they do what they do. It just comes to them. Daniel can. He describes what he sees in his head. That's why he's exciting. He could be the 'Rosetta Stone'."[6]

[edit] Language abilities

Tammet speaks eleven languages including English, French, Finnish, German, Spanish, Lithuanian, Romanian, Estonian, Icelandic, Welsh and Esperanto.

He particularly likes Estonian, because it is rich in vowels. Tammet is creating a new language called Mänti. Mänti has many features related to Finnish and Estonian, both of which are Finno-Ugric languages. Some sources credit Tammet as creating the Uusisuom and Lapsi languages as well.[7]

Tammet is capable of learning new languages very quickly. To prove this for the Channel Five documentary, Tammet was challenged to learn Icelandic in one week. Seven days later he appeared on Icelandic television conversing in Icelandic, with his Icelandic language instructor saying it was "not human" and "genius!". Segments of the interview showing Tammet responding to questions in Icelandic were televised on the January 28, 2007 edition of the CBS news magazine, 60 Minutes.[2]

[edit] Born on a Blue Day

In 2006, Tammet traveled to the United States to promote his memoir, Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant.[1] Tammet was born on a Wednesday, a day he perceives in his mind as the colour blue. While on his U.S. book tour, he appeared on several television and radio talk shows and specials, including 60 Minutes and David Letterman's Late Show.[1] In February, 2007, Born on a Blue Day was serialised as BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week in the United Kingdom.

[edit] Personal life

Tammet and his domestic partner, software engineer Neil Mitchell, have been together for six years. They live together in Kent where they have a quiet regimented life at home with their cats, prepare their meals from their garden, and prefer their privacy.[8][9] Tammet and Mitchell together operate the online e-learning company Optimnem, where they create and publish language courses. Tammet has publicly discussed his relationship with Mitchell, his savant abilities, and his sexual orientation.[10][11]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Tammet, Daniel (2006). Born on a Blue Day. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0340899748. 
  2. ^ a b Morely Safer. "Brain Man", CBS News, 28 January 2007. Retrieved on 2007-02-02. 
  3. ^ Daniel Tammet; Kim Peek; Shai Azoulai; VS Ramachandran. (2006). Extraordinary People - The Boy with the incredible Brain (.SWF) [Video]. five.tv. Retrieved on 2007-02-28. Event occurs at (inclusive) 43 min.
  4. ^ Pi memory feat. Oxford University (15 March 2004). Retrieved on 2007-02-02.
  5. ^ Pi in the Sky - New European Record Set. Pi World Ranking List (15 March 2004). Retrieved on 2007-02-02.
  6. ^ Richard Johnson. "A genius explains", The Guardian, 12 February 2005. Retrieved on 2007-03-10. 
  7. ^ Uusisuom. Langmaker. Retrieved on 2007-02-02.
  8. ^ Sarah Lyall (15 February 2007). Brainman, at Rest in His Oasis. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
  9. ^ Caroline Scott. "Daniel Tammet Life and Style Times Online", The Times, 13 August 2006. Retrieved on 2007-05-26. 
  10. ^ Fred Bernstein. "The Smartest Man in the World is Gay", The Advocate, 19 June 2007, pp. 44-53. Retrieved on 2007-05-25. 
  11. ^ Rachel Dowd. "His Beautiful Mind: Inside the brain of an autistic savant lies a parallel universe", The Advocate, 19 June 2007, pp. 50-53. Retrieved on 2007-05-25. 

[edit] External links