A passion for numbers: numeracy

Yesterday, the 30th November 2006, Ainan Celeste Cawley, aged seven years and one week, did something a little surprising. He counted the pixels on our tv screen. He didn't count them all, of course - he counted their number in the vertical and horizontal directions - and then multiplied them together to get his count, yet, still, he counted them.

This newborn fascination with number is a return to an older trend, when he was four, when all things numerate were his interest. That passed and other interests took its place.

Yesterday, however, he spent much of the evening, after that, seeking patterns in numbers: the patterns seemed to intrigue him. Will this renewed interest in mathematics lead to a growth in that area, to synergize with his science? It is too early to tell - but at least, in writing of it, we may better understand what comes in the years ahead.

(If you would like to read more of my scientific child prodigy son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, aged seven years and one week, then please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted and gifted children - and gifted adults - in general.)