The art of a child.

Sometimes, my children draw odd things. It is not, necessarily, that the drawings themselves look odd...but when you ask them what it is that they have drawn, the answers can sometimes be far from expected.

A few days, Ainan, nine, and Fintan, just turned six, were drawing. Both had chosen to draw something based on circles. Fintan's consisted of a couple of concentric circles, standing about being mysterious - and Ainan's was truly enigmatic: there was a circle, with various other things intersecting with it in a manner which escapes easy description, in easy words. It looked like some ancient hieroglyphic, from an undiscovered dead tongue.

Of course, seeing these mysterious objects drawn made me ponder what they were. No immediate answer came to mind, so I had to ask:

"Fintan: what's that?"

"A shockwave.", he observed, as if nothing could be more plain to see.

Now that I knew what it was, it did, indeed, look like a shockwave. The question that then came to me was: why was Fintan, all of six, drawing a shockwave?

Then I asked Ainan: "What is yours, then?"

"The LHC: the Large Hadron Collider.", he revealed, appraising it as he spoke.

Ah. No wonder I hadn't guessed. Yet, again, now that I knew what it was, it did, indeed, look like the Large Hadron Collider. He had even drawn the particle detectors.

It sometimes seems to me that my children live in a strange world. At times, it doesn't seem like a child's world at all. They can be very arcane, can my children, as children go. Their knowledge sometimes seems absurdly abstruse for kids yet in single digits, when it comes to years. Yet, that is how they are. They find pleasure in things that other children might find only boredom in - and I suppose that is a good thing, for the world needs people who find shockwaves and Large Hadron Colliders interesting enough to draw. In fact, we wouldn't enjoy so many things in our daily lives, were there not children who liked such things - for they become adults who work with such things, to the general benefit.

There is only one worry in all this: can they share their interests and viewpoints with other kids of their own age? What would they think, for instance, of Ainan's Large Hadron Collider? I cannot imagine that they would greet it with much enthusiasm. Luckily, however, Ainan finds his own enjoyment in such things, and, hopefully, that is enough for him. Anyway, he can always share it with his little brothers, who are remarkably open to him.

Now, what do you think Tiarnan, three, had drawn? Rather sweetly, he had drawn his mother's skirt, fluttering in a breeze, all graceful lines and curves.

We were both touched.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

IMDB is the Internet Movie Database for film and tv professionals.If you would like to look at my IMDb listing for which another fifteen credits are to be uploaded, (which will probably take several months before they are accepted) please go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3438598/ As I write, the listing is new and brief - however, by the time you read this it might have a dozen or a score of credits...so please do take a look. My son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, also has an IMDb listing. His is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3305973/ My wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley, has a listing as well. Hers is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

Conversation meant for few.

Ainan's conversation is an art in itself. To understand him, first one must understand many other things. In a way, it is both exhilarating and saddening to hear him speak the way he does.

Perhaps, I should explain. Today, for instance, with great interest in his voice, he revealed: "Daddy, carborane superacid is the only acid known to protonate fullerene without destroying its structure." This fact evidently had deep appeal to him. I am used to this kind of remark, so it takes some effort to step back from it and realize that this is not the normal conversational observation of a typical eight year old. I feel, in reflecting on his scientifically laden speech, that I am happy that I was scientifically educated so that he has someone to talk to. I cannot imagine how alone he would be, were that not so.

Ainan, eight, has interests and understandings that set him apart from other children his own age. In fact, so far apart do they set him, that it is only with scientifically expert adults that he can find conversational partners. This could be an intolerable situation were it not that I am able to understand his thoughts - and that he is at Singapore Polytechnic with other scientifically interested - though older - people.

So, I find myself with mixed feelings. It is beautiful to hear his thoughts, from the point of view of enjoying his scientific thinking (which, as a former scientist, I do). However, I am acutely aware that he cannot share his thoughts with his age-mates: this is simply an impossibility. So therein lies the sadness, too - not a sadness that he should think so, for that is beautiful, but a sadness that it makes it impossible to speak to others, as he would wish.

Yet, Ainan is happy. He is growing in his interests. He can express his fullest thoughts with me. He has others to relate to at Singapore Polytechnic and he is in an altogether better position than if his sole social milieu were a primary school with children of his own age. Then, he would truly be intellectually isolated.

As each year passes, Ainan's thoughts and interests become ever more rarified. His observations become ever more arcane. More understanding of more scientific matters is required to understand where he is coming from...it is an endless process of growth. I suppose this is a process that all scientists go through - though almost all would not do so until they were adults. Ainan is experiencing the intellectual isolation that comes from knowing what others do not know and understanding what others do not understand. My task is to ensure that he always has a conversational outlet and that at least one person understands what he is thinking. If I can satisfy that, then he will never feel the intellectual isolation that is logically his - until such a day as he is a working scientist with equally understanding colleagues and the issue is never more an issue at all.

In the meantime, I shall serve as his primary outlet for his thoughts. How lucky I am to have the background necessary to understand them - and how lucky he is, too.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.)

Ainan's love of abstruse chemicals

Ainan, 7, loves Chemistry. For him, its abstractions, concepts and arcana are all playthings. He enjoys them in a way that other children enjoy Playstation or football.



Today, I wandered into the computer room and caught him searching for something on the internet. I was somewhat bemused when I noted the length of the character string that he was using in his search. It was 1,913 characters long. It is comprised 267 amino acids. This is a huge molecule. It is in fact the protein, Tryptophan Synthetase (to give it an abbreviated name). The full name that he was searching with is, as follows:



methionylglutaminylarginyltyrosylglutamylserylleucylphenylalanylalanylglutaminylleucyllysylglutamylarginyl lysylglutamylglycylalanylphenylalanylvalylprolylphenylalanylvalylthreonylleucylglycylaspartylprolylglycylisol eucylglutamylglutaminylserylleucyllysylisoleucylaspartylthreonylleucylisoleucylglutamylalanylglycylalanylaspartyl alanylleucylglutamylleucylglycylisoleucylprolylphenylalanylserylaspartylprolylleucylalanylaspartylglycylprolyl threonylisoleucylglutaminylasparaginylalanylthreonylleucylarginylalanylphenylalanylalanylalanylglycylvalylthreonyl prolylalanylglutaminylcysteinylphenylalanylglutamylmethionylleucylalanylleucylisoleucylarginylglutaminyllysyl histidylprolylthreonylisoleucylprolylisoleucylglycylleucylleucylmethionyltyrosylalanylasparaginylleucylvalylphenyl alanylasparaginyllysylglycylisoleucylaspartylglutamylphenylalanyltyrosylalanylglutaminylcysteinylglutamyllysylvalyl glycylvalylaspartylserylvalylleucylvalylalanylaspartylvalylprolylvalylglutaminylglutamylserylalanylprolylphenylalanyl arginylglutaminylalanylalanylleucylarginylhistidylasparaginylvalylalanylprolylisoleucylphenylalanylisoleucylcysteinyl prolylprolylaspartylalanylaspartylaspartylaspartylleucylleucylarginylglutaminylisoleucylalanylseryltyrosylglycyl arginylglycyltyrosylthreonyltyrosylleucylleucylserylarginylalanylglycylvalylthreonylglycylalanylglutamylasparaginyl arginylalanylalanylleucylprolylleucylasparaginylhistidylleucylvalylalanyllysylleucyllysylglutamyltyrosylasparaginyl alanylalanylprolylprolylleucylglutaminylglycylphenylalanylglycylisoleucylserylalanylprolylaspartylglutaminylvalyllysyl alanylalanylisoleucylaspartylalanylglycylalanylalanylglycylalanylisoleucylserylglycylserylalanylisoleucylvalyllysylisol eucylisoleucylglutamylglutaminylhistidylasparaginylisoleucylglutamylprolylglutamyllysylmethionylleucylalanylalanylleucyl lysylvalylphenylalanylvalylglutaminylprolylmethionyllysyl alanylalanylthreonylarginylserine



Do you know what really amazed me? He actually found references to this chemical on the internet! This protein is actually the longest chemical ever named in a scientific journal - so it is a molecule of some distinction. Trust Ainan to be interested in it.



(If you would like to know more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 7, a scientific child prodigy, seven years and eight months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, aged four years and one month, or Tiarnan, eighteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children. Thanks.)