Victoria Cowie will almost always be the smartest person in the room, said Claire Ellicott in the London Daily Mail. The 11-year-old from Shropshire, England, was extraordinarily bright from an early age, reading elementary-school books as a toddler, but her teachers, parents, and Victoria, too, were shocked when she scored 162 on an IQ test. That surpasses the 160 thought to belong to Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, and Stephen Hawking. “When I got the results, I was really surprised,” Cowie says. “It’s quite daunting to be compared to great minds, but it feels good also to be thought of as that clever.”
Cowie hardly seems like anything other than a normal 11-year-old, other than the fact that she seems to be avidly interested in everything. “I really enjoy science and doing experiments, but I also love acting and dancing and playing musical instruments. I do theater workshops and loads of sports like swimming.” She’s fairly certain what she wants to do with her gifts. “My favorite subject is biology, and I want to be a vet when I’m older because I love animals and I’m not afraid of blood.” Right now, though, she’s got a less ambitious goal. Her parents, she says, have told her to clean up her room.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Today's political cartoons - February 1, 2025Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - broken eggs, contagious lies, and more
-
5 humorously unhealthy cartoons about RFK Jr.Cartoons Artists take on medical innovation, disease spreading, and more
-
Brodet (fish stew) recipeThe Week Recommends This hearty dish is best accompanied by a bowl of polenta
