The Test That Terence Tao Aced at Age 7

Terence did note in his answers that questions 6 and 8 (A & E) at 2:18 can't be done (page 215).

[douggale]

I think his parents and family deserve a lot of praise for helping him reach his full potential. Even if you were as brilliant as Terrance, your environment may not give you access to enough literature or other sources of knowledge to learn at that pace.

[griffydz]

"By 21, he had his PhD .."
I am gonna sleep to forget

[sharonsekhon]

I love how he simply says, "I don't know." It shows honest he is and pure.

[Axel-jvwb]

This is the kid that i wanted to be but nintendo got me first

[liveandlearnforfun]

I took a class under Terence Tao at UCLA. It’s interesting how many of his explanations were very visual, and he would often describe how he just “sees” the solutions to the problems, so his approach definitely evolved. His exams were impossible also and heavily curved.

[ross.metcalf]

It's cool to see that his learning was self-motivated, rather than pressure from parents.

[christopherknight]

I got way too excited for being able to answer the question young Mr. Tao missed at 7 years old. I suppose we have to take our victories wherever we can find them!

[nowammies]

22 years old, just getting to calculus now, and i'll say that this wasn't discouraging at all for me. If anything it was encouraging to see that math doesn't care about age, just your willingness and ability to learn it. While most of my peers have already finished well past where I am currently, I still find joy and excitement being introduced to this new world of information and possibilities. Maybe that child like curiosity has been sparked once again.

[MichaelChengSanJose]

It’s almost hilarious to see how advanced he was at 8 years old, like watching an alien being progressing at 10x the rate of a normal human.

[josh]

I like how this mentions the time that TT put into studying. While clearly a genius, part of his rapid success comes from enjoying studying and learning new math for 3+ hours a day.

[muantangpua]

Q: What is a field?

Age 7 me: A field is where grass grows and we play football also...

[craigfowler]

I am impressed, he was doing second year A Level Maths at 7 years old, normally for a gifted mathematician at 17 years old.

[RisetotheEquation]

-What is a field?
TT: I don't know.
-What is a Field's medal?
TT: I'll get back to you on that.

[jadmusallam]

it is interesting to note that TT has 2 younger brothers Nigel and Trevor, also very agile with mathematics, one being a 2 time bronze medal winner at the international Mathematic olympiad, and the other being an international chess master.

i would have liked to see how their parents inspired them and made Home such a place to flourish

[TactlessGuy]

Funny thing about him saying "I don't know" when asked about fields is that it's probably one of the best answers you could give about it.

[ollyalme]

No matter how stressed out, I'd calmly and easily fall asleep listening to (a recording of) you reading from... anything really.

[DodderingOldMan]

When I was 7 I genuinely believed I was a maths genius, because I was slightly better at memorising times tables than the other students in my relatively small class.

Turns out, I wasn't.

[vetiarvind]

I saw him speak at UCLA where he was a professor, and that too about astronomy and the geometries of the movement heavenly bodies. One of my friends had actually worked with him, he is into some really arcane pure math and analytics right now. When I asked about Terence, my friend just said "he knows way too much". Always a fan of your content and regards from India.

[vkig]

Is it just me ... or does anyone else like how this guy's initials are TT which can be written as π ...

[AnelorGalor]

No question that he is outstanding and his answers at 7 are amazing, though one has to consider:
- Mother a math teach with a first class honors degree in math,
- 2 brothers of which both represented Australia in the math Olympics.
That does not seem like a coincidence, rather good aptitude for math combined with vigorous parent schooling.