Search Database

Life Span Development: Gifted Adults

• Organizations: International

  Prometheus Society

  Established in 1982, this international society brings together highly gifted individuals from the top 1 in 30,000 people and offers online discussions, newsletters, and online tools to connect these profoundly gifted people.

  Triple Nine Society (TNS)

  Triple Nine Society (TNS) is a high-IQ society for individuals 18 and older who score at or above the 99.9th percentile on selected intelligence tests. Annual dues are $10. TNS provides a number of benefits, most importantly a community of intellectual peers for social and educational purposes. The online community includes private Yahoo groups and Facebook pages, as well as members-only access to various resources on the login portion of the TNS website. TNS also organizes several annual gatherings in the United States and abroad.

• Organizations: National

  Advancing Hispanics/Chicanos & Native Americans in Science (SACNAS)

  Advancing Hispanics/Chicanos & Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) is a society of scientists dedicated to fostering the success of Hispanic/Chicano and Native American scientists—from college students to professionals—in attaining advanced degrees, careers, and positions of leadership. With a 36-year history, SACNAS is comprised of over 20,000 members, partners, and affiliates from a diversity of disciplines, institutions, ethnic backgrounds, and levels along the educational trajectory. SACNAS members are dedicated to giving back through mentorship, peer networks, and professional development, and to engaging in science research and leadership of the highest caliber.

  Student Coaching Services

  Student Coaching Services offers programs for a wide swath of needs, most notably college and career planning. SCS has also grown to include a team of tutors and coaches from certified education backgrounds, all especially talented at bringing the best out of students.

• Printed Materials: Books

  21st Century Violinists

  This book by String Letter Publishing offers a rare glimpse into the world of the classical violin soloist, whether they're child prodigies just coming onto the stage or cultural icons whose careers have had a lasting influence on generations of players. In this collection of in-depth interviews, today's leading violinists discuss making music on one of the world's most beloved instruments. How they practice, how they work with other musicians, their performance secrets and anxieties, and what moves and inspires them.

  A Gifted Life Cut Short: The Jeffrey Peck Story (a memoir)

  Follow Jeff: From his birth to home schooling. Entering college at age 11. Graduating college with honors one week after his 15th birthday. Entering med school at 18. Being naturally brilliant (gifted) isn't easy. Jeffrey Peck was about to find his doorway to happiness wanting to marry the woman of his dreams, buy a home, have children and a normal life. But, 21st century technology in the hands of an evil stranger gave a sudden shocking twist to his life. Follow his mother's mission to find the truth: Who, what, when, where, and why his gifted life was cut short.

  Careers for Geniuses & Other Gifted Types

  Careers for Geniuses and Other Gifted Types lets career explorers look at the job market through the unique lens of their own interests. The book reveals dozens of ways to pursue a passion and make a living--including many little-known but delightful careers that will surprise readers.

  Cradles of Eminence: Childhoods of More Than 700 Famous Men and Women

  Covering such personalities as Aretha Franklin, Pablo Picasso and Frank Lloyd Wright, authors Goertzel and Hansen remember their incredible contributions to our world. We wonder whether today's world will nurture and support the emergence of great potential to the same extent as previous decades. Click here to read a review of this book.

  Genius Came Early

  In this book, author Lee Cullum explores the 20th century with its spirit of relentless innovation. She discovered that the 20th century, even with its power to appall, has been animated by creative wonder. Freud, Franklin Rossevelt, Picasso, Virginia Woolf, Gershwin, and Charlie Chaplin all brought forth new worlds and shaped them by the light of their own genius.

  Genius Creativity and Leadership: Historiometric Inquiries

  Dean Keith Simonton examines uncommon people: those creators and leaders whose impact on their own and later times has been so great that they deserve the label "genius." A simultaneous look at creativity and leadership is itself uncommon, and the comparison shows that when creators and leaders act at genius levels they have many similarities. What it is that causes them to stand out above others? Simonton believes that if we subject the lives of the eminent to scientific analysis we may be able to discover general laws of history and social behavior. To do this he defines a discipline called historiometry.
  

  Genius Revisited: High IQ Children Grown Up

  The authors explore the lives of those who have grown up gifted. It summarizes a study administered to access the outcomes of early identification and schooling among a group of highly gifted students. There is information on the realities of schools, the expectations of others, and the choices that the gifted make as adults. The authors propose that reported reflections of these now older subjects can help in the gifted development of future students.

  Gifted Grownups: The Mixed Blessings of Extraordinary Potential

  Debunking the myth that intellectually gifted people are either impractical social misfits or perfect specimens, author Marylou Streznewski, a specialist in gifted education, presents a study of 100 people ages 18 to 90. After defining giftedness, Streznewski examines old and new research on the nature of intelligence and other gifts and explores ways gifted people hide their talents. Other topics include special challenges within families, at school, as young adults, and in seeking challenging work; the plight of gifted dropouts and criminals; and how giftedness affects relationships, etc.

  Greatness: Who Makes History and Why

  In this book, Dean Keith Simonton examines a range of important personalities and events that have influenced the course of history. He discusses how people who go down in history might be different from the rest of us, and explores which personality traits predispose certain people to become world leaders, movie stars, scientific geniuses, and star athletes. In exploring the psychology of greatness, this fascinating work also sheds light on the characteristics that any of us may share with history-making people.

  Hothouse Kids: The Dilemma of the Gifted Child

  Alissa Quart shows how a gifted childhood that is "relentlessly tested, totally overscheduled and joylessly competitive" is being created by some parents and concludes that "enrichment" not only doesn't necessarily work, it may be harmful.

  In Search of Genius

  More than a collection of conversations, this is an investigation of creativity - an investigation conducted by the investigated. Here, men around whom we structure the word "genius" itself, men whose minds have helped shape the genius of this century, men like Picasso, Cocteau, Chagall, Dali, and Marceau, reveal and define the genius that moves them.

  Lives of Promise: What Becomes of High School Valedictorians

  This book provides a vivid picture of the challenges talented young people must navigate in translating academic ability and achievement into successful adult careers and lives.

  Makers of Modern England: The Force of Individual Genius in History

  From Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill to Winston Churchill, a distinguished historian tells the life stories, delving deeply into the psychological background as well as the accomplishments, of eight men and one woman whose ideas and actions epitomize the essential development of British political and social life for the past 150 years.

  Off the Charts: Asynchrony and the Gifted Child

  The editors of this book brought together 19 essays by renowned gifted education specialists to explore the effects of asynchronous development on gifted children and adults. It contains sections on Asynchrony and the Individual, Asynchrony and the Family, Asynchrony and Learning and chapters describe the nature of asynchrony, methods of dealing with the challenges of asynchrony, and recommendations for adapting education in a variety of settings.

  Origins of Genius: Darwinian Perspectives on Creativity

  What makes an Einstein happen? How is it that some kids grow up to be Nobel laureates while others, seemingly their equals, go on to undistinguished careers? Dr. Dean Simonton, professor of psychology at the University of California at Davis, has striven to understand this phenomenon for years and has compiled his insights and research in this book.

  Profiles of Female Genius: Thirteen Creative Women Who Changed the World

  Author Gene Landrum looks at the common characteristics linking the diverse careers of highly creative women and concludes that "female creative genius is synonymous with a strong self-esteem and self-confidence coupled with a right-brain-driven intuitive spirit and a manic energy to succeed." The lives and careers profiled in this book include Mary Kay Ash, Jane Fonda, and Oprah Winfrey.

  Strange Beauty: Murray Gell-Mann and the Revolution in Twentieth Century Physics

  In George Johnson's biography of Nobel Prize-winner Murray Gell-Mann, we see Gell-Mann as a child prodigy; Gell-Mann entering Yale at 15; Gell-Mann the world traveler and master of particle physics.

  Talented Children and Adults: Their Development and Education

  Jane Piirto designed this book to cover both the characteristics of gifted students and to present important information on how to teach them. It contains the latest results of federal research projects, suggestions for inclusion, and definitions of who is gifted and talented.

  The Development of Giftedness and Talent Across the Life Span

  Renowned developmental psychologists and experts in gifted education come together to explore giftedness from early childhood through the elder years. Focusing on the practical implications of emerging theoretical perspectives and empirical findings, contributors examine prediction and measurement, diversity issues, and psychosocial factors as they relate to developing talent in different domains.

  The Genius of Science: A Portrait Gallery

  It could be argued that the 20th century was the century of theoretical physics. The Genius of Science is a portrait gallery of 16 of the most interesting international physicists who helped change our view of the world--from Niels Bohr to Eugene Wigner. Author Abraham Pais, an eminent American theoretical physicist and professor at Rockefeller University, has written acclaimed biographies of Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr, two of the greatest scientists of the 20th century. Pais was acquainted with many of the people he writes about.

  The Gifted Adult: A Revolutionary Guide for Liberating Everyday Genius (Alternate Title - Liberating Everyday Genius: A Revolutionary Guide for Identifying and Mastering Your Exceptional Gifts)

  Are you relentlessly curious and creative, always willing to rock the boat in order to get things done; extremely energetic and focused, yet constantly switching gears; intensely sensitive, able to intuit subtly charged situations and decipher others' feelings? If these traits sound familiar, then you may be an Everyday Genius, someone who shares qualities with figures as diverse as Bill Gates and Mother Teresa. These are people who break the mold and change the world, who actualize their singular talents, who don't hesitate to "think different." Click here to read a review of this book.

  The Invention that Changed the World

  In this book, author Robert Buderi chronicles the previously untold story of radar, one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of the last century. He presents in-depth, completely accessible descriptions of the triumphs and technological advances and introduces the brilliant band of scientists, many of them Nobel Prize winners, who carried out this revolution.

  The Resilience Factor: 7 Essential Skills for Overcoming Life’s Inevitable Obstacles

  In the capable hands of psychologists Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatté, resilience is not a Band-Aid or a buzzword. It is a habit of mind. The Resilience Factor is a practical roadmap for navigating unexpected challenges, surprises, and setbacks at work and home. Their premise--that your thinking style determines your resilience--underlies the books promise: you can boost resilience by changing the way you think about adversity. Click here to read a review of this book.

  The Who's Who of Nobel Prize Winners 1901-2000

  A fascinating record of human achievement, this collection is a one-stop source of detailed information on the men and women who earned the Nobel Prize during the 20th century.

  Uncommon Genius: How Great Ideas Are Born

  In this searching look into the essence of creativity, 40 winners of the coveted MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, the so-called “genius award”, provide a glimpse inside their own experience of the creative process.

  Whatever Happened to the Quiz Kids?: Perils and Profits of Growing Up Gifted

  This book is a follow-up study of the world-famous high-IQ "Quiz Kids" of radio show fame from the 1940s radio show "The Quiz Kids." The author, a former Quiz Kid herself, tracked down many Quiz Kid cohorts and administered a questionnaire, then chose a selection of the Quiz Kids to interview in-depth.

  Young Nietzsche; Becoming a Genius

  Pletsch offers the reader the fruits of his long and creative journey into Nietzshe's world of ideas and humanity, which have broad implications for intellectual history, human development and creativity.

• Printed Materials: Online Documents

  Fostering adult giftedness: Acknowledging and addressing affective needs of gifted adults

  Hosted on the Talent Development Resources website, this article by Sharon Lind, discusses the difficulties an adult may go through in identifying themselves as gifted. Some adults realize that while teaching, guiding, and/or parenting their gifted children, they see similar traits in themselves. Lind focuses on
  five key affective needs of gifted adults: acknowledging your own gifts; nurturing your identity development; giving yourself permission to be a growing, changing, imperfect person; taking advantage of and coping with over excitabilities; and learning practical coping skills.

  Gifted Adults

  In a society that largely considers gifted adults to be those who have achieved some significance in their field, and which focuses almost all of its attention (when it pays any at all) on gifted children, it is challenging to think about gifted adults in other ways.

  Remarkable Women: Perspectives on Female Talent Development

  This 18-page booklet is the first publication to consolidate and expand existing knowledge about highly capable women and the internal and external forces that lead them to extraordinary adult accomplishment. The collected studies include women from a wide variety of backgrounds and talent domains whose paths to exceptional achievement illuminate the nature of female talent development and provide models to help more women fulfill their promise in adulthood.

• Websites & Other Media: Informational

  Albert Einstein Online

  Albert Einstein Online has all you need to know about Albert Einstein, including: Einsten moments; physics; "In His Own Words"; and pictures.

  Arousing the Sleeping Giant: Giftedness in Adult Psychotherapy

  This article brings attention to the fact that giftedness is found not only in children but also in adults. Gifted adults should achieve their high potential and realize their talents.

  Encountering the Gifted Self Again, For the First Time

  This piece, by Mary-Elaine Jacobsen, Ph.D. and posted on the Talent Development Resource's website, distinguishes the differences between the confusing signs of identifying an adult as gifted. Such confusing notions are asynchronous development, exceptionally high standards, extra-sensitivity and arousal, independence and perceptivity.

  Nobelprize.org

  This site is an introduction to past and present Nobel Laureates with articles written by Laureates, biographies, autobiographical essays and photos and video footage. Fascinating information into the lives of these accomplished intellectuals.