Mental calculators are people with a prodigious ability in some area of mental calculation, such as multiplying large numbers or factoring large numbers. Some mental calculators are autistic savants, with a narrow area of great skill and poor mental development in other directions, but many are people of normal mental development who have simply developed advanced calculating ability. A good many are also experienced mathematicians, linguists, writers, and so on.

Mental calculators were in great demand in research centers such as CERN before the advent of modern electronic calculators and computers. See, for instance, the 1983 book The Great Mental Calculators, whose introduction was written by Hans Eberstark.

Michael O'Boyle, an American psychologist working in Australia, has recently used MRI scanning of blood flow during mental operation in prodigies to display startling results. Mathematical prodigies achieve blood flow to parts of the brain responsible for mathematical operations six to seven times the typical flow.

Mental calculators in fiction

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In Dune, specially trained mental calculators known as Mentats have replaced mechanical computers completely. Several important supporting characters in the novel, namely Piter De Vries and Thufir Hawat, are Mentats.

Mental calculators

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• Abraham Hagarman, #73 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Alexander Craig Aitken, #6 in "The 100 Greatest" ^*
• Alexis Lemaire
• Andre Ampere, #86 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Antoon van den Hurk, #77 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Aron Chikvashvily, #59 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Arthur Griffith, #29 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Arthur T. Benjamin, #21 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Arumogam, #14 in "The 100 Greatest"
• August Tischer, #34 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Bernhard Riemann
• Borislav Gadzhansky, #52 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Brian Greene
• C.A.P., #33 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Carl Friedrich Gauss, #79 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Charles Finn, #99 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Daniel McCartney, #50 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Daniel Tammet
• David Naumovich Goldshtein, #25 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Dismer, #78 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Divesh Shah ^*
• Domingo Francisco Arago, #87 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Edward Mills, #43 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Eiji Kimura, #5 in "The 100 Greatest" ^*
• Ernest Mongeon, #54 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Ettore Majorana
• Ferrol, #39 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Frederica Murray, #68 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Genlis, #69 in "The 100 Greatest"
• George Blesins, #45 in "The 100 Greatest"
• George Finn, #98 in "The 100 Greatest"
• George Lane
• George Parker Bidder, #2 in "The 100 Greatest"
• George Parker Bidder Jr, #53 in "The 100 Greatest"
• George Watson, #38 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Gottfried Ruckle, #10 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Grandmange, #35 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Guiseppe Pugliese, #75 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Hans Eberstark, #12 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Henri Mondeux, #28 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Henry Andrews, #55 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Herbert B. de Grote, #96 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Heywood, #95 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Igor Josefovich Prikhodko, #94 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Igor Shelushkov, #60 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Jacques Inaudi, #1 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Jaime García Serrano, Colombia, Sea Usted Una Computadora Humana ISBN 9875610860
• Jakow Trachtenberg
• James Garry, #18 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Jedediah Buxton, #15 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Johann Dase, #7 in "The 100 Greatest"
• John Law, #61 in "The 100 Greatest"
• John Mole, #46 in "The 100 Greatest"
• John Roby, #62 in "The 100 Greatest"
• John Von Neumann, #41 in "The 100 Greatest"
• John Wallis, #40 in "The 100 Greatest"
• John Winn, #30 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Josef Zinovievich Prikhodko, #72 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Kim Peek
• Leo Klein, #32 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Leonhard Euler, #51 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Louis Fleury, #13 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Ludwig Kahn, #92 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Luigi Pierini, #76 in "The 100 Greatest"
• M. M. J. R. Lacy, #90 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Marius Portal, #11 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Mattieu le Coq, #80 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Maurice Dagbert, #19 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Meho Focie, #81 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Miguel Alberto Mantilla, #63 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Mikhail Cerebriakhof, #82 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Mlle Osaka, #64 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Mohammed El Attar, #56 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Moritz Frankl, #20 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Nikola Tesla, #91 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Oleg Stepanov
• Oscar Moore, #67 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Oscar Verhaeghe, #47 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Paul-Aumont Lidoreau, #27 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Pericles Diamandi, #23 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Peter M. Deshong, #24 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Petrof Cerebriakhof, #83 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Piemontais Pughiesi, #84 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Pierre Annich, #85 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Prolongeau, #65 in "The 100 Greatest"
• R. H. Frost, #88 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Richard Leonard, #36 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Richard Porson, #44 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Richard Whately, #31 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Roman Semyonovich Arrago, #22 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Rube Fields, #17 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Rüdiger Gamm, de:Rüdiger Gamm
• Salo Finkelstein, #8 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Scott Flansburg, [http://www.myspace.com/thehumancalculator
• Shakuntala Devi, #37 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Shyam Marathe, #42 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Srinivasa Ramanujan, #89 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Svante August Arrhenius, #97 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Tathagat Avatar Tulsi
• Thomas Fuller, #16 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Truman Henry Safford, #4 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Ugo Zaneboni, #74 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Urania Diamandi, #58 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Van R., #93 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Vincenzo Succaro, #71 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Vinckler, #70 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Vito Manglamele, #26 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Vladimir Nobokov, #100 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Vladymir Zubritsky, #48 in "The 100 Greatest"
• William James Sidis, #66 in "The 100 Greatest"
• William S. Hutchings, #57 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Willis Nelson Dysart, #49 in "The 100 Greatest"
• Wim Klein (a.k.a. Willem Klein), #3 in "The 100 Greatest" ^*
• Zacharias Dase
• Zerah Colburn, #9 in "The 100 Greatest"

See also

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• Child prodigy
• Mental Calculation World Cup

External links

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• Prodigy Calculators by Viktor Pekelis
• Willem Klein
• Thought and machine processes
• Tricks and techniques
• 13throot.com - website about mental calculation of 13th roots
• The 100 Greatest Mental Calculators

Calculating prodigies

Calculadora humana