News in the Cancan, Romania

The Cancan is a dance, to most people but, to Romanians, it is "the leading first quality tabloid newspaper", according to its own description.

Now, Ainan's achievements have been covered in many newspapers, in many countries, but I was really quite surprised to discover, today, that the Romanian newspaper, Cancan, had somehow heard about Ainan and, using a photo available online, ran a story on him. It is quite sweet of them, to notice him!

For the few of you who may be able to read Romanian and to preserve it for posterity, I will post it below. I am not sure if they have got all the facts right, because I can't read it - but at least they tried. I think they got the age at which he would browse in libraries wrong by several years...he was much earlier than what I think they are saying.

It was published on the 25th of May 2007:

Geniu in chimie, la doar sapte ani

SIMPLU. Ainan rezolva imediat probleme de chimie care ii pun la grea incercare pe liceeni
Dana Arama (this was the caption to the photo which, unaccountably, won't paste here.)

Ainan Celeste Cawley are doar sapte ani, dar rezolva deja teste de chimie care se dau la examenele de colegiu. De curand, el a trecut cu brio un test la British Council din Singapore, unde a sustinut examenul de chimie alaturi de alti patru concurenti adulti. "Chimia e o stiinta minunata si nu mi se pare deloc grea", spune el, simplu. Ainan si-a manifestat interesul pentru stiinta care studiaza atomii, compozitia, structura si proprietatile substantelor inca de foarte mic. "La 3-4 ani, l-am gasit cotrobaind in biblioteca. Luase carti de stiinta, cu texte foarte greu de inteles chiar si pentru un adult. Le-a citit cu mare interes. Ulterior, a inceput sa comenteze ce citea cu tatal lui", a povestit mama lui Ainan, Syahidah Osman Cawley. Se pare ca micul geniu a mostenit pasiunea pentru stiintele exacte de la tatal lui, Valentine Cawley, licentiat in Fizica la Universitatea Cambridge. A dat toate raspunsurile corecte "El singur a cautat sa afle cat mai multe despre chimie de pe Internet. Cand i-am dat primele teste de rezolvat, foarte greu de rezolvat si pentru un adolescent de 16 ani, a dat toate raspunsurile corecte", a explicat mandru tatal baietelului, Valentine. Ainan, care e jumatate irlandez, jumatate malaezian, a fost un bebelus precoce. La doua saptamani, silabisea cuvinte, la patru luni mergea de-a busilea, la sase luni mergea in picioare, iar la opt luni putea deja sa alerge. Urmatoarele provocari ale micului geniu: sa rezolve testele de chimie pentru elevii de 18 ani, sa intre la universitate si sa se dedice apoi unei cariere stiintifice.

So, hello Romania!

Thank you to Dana Arama for taking the trouble to cover Ainan, in Romanian.

20 Minutos on Ainan Celeste Cawley

20 Minutos is the leading Spanish newspaper by readership. They did a story on Ainan recently but, since I can no longer find the story on their website, I am pasting an online clip of it, here, so that readers may find it.

Un niño de 7 años aprueba un examen preuniversitario de Química
EUROPA PRESS / 20MINUTOS.ES. 23.05.2007 - 21:06h

Ainan Celeste Cawley es medio malayo medio irlandés.
Pasó un examen para jóvenes de 16 años.

Se llama Ainan Celeste Cawley y a sus 7 años ya ha logrado aprobar un examen de Química pensado para un nivel preuniversitario, es decir, para jóvenes con al menos 16 años; se toma a Ainan como el único niño prodigio químico del mundo, y la historia de su corta vida es la historia de unos logros sorprendentemente precoces.

Pronunciaba palabras con apenas dos semanasPronunciaba algunas palabras a las dos semanas de vida, gateaba a los cuatro meses, caminaba a los seis y corría a los ocho, según aseguran sus padres en su blog; tamaño prodigio, hijo de un licenciado en Física por la Universidad de Cambridge y una artista ambidiestra, obtuvo el nivel 'O' en Química por el London Edexcel Board.

Leía libros de Química que luego comentaba

Cuentan que, cuando era pequeño, Ainan buscaba libros de ciencias en la biblioteca de la casa, mostrando preferencia por textos difíciles con complicadas ilustraciones sobre temas científicos, que luego comentaba; con tres o cuatro años estaba interesado en las formas híperdimensionales y dibujaba sus sombras en dos dimensiones a manera de juego intelectual.
Este interés hacia las estructuras abstractas se desarrolló posteriormente en un interés por las estructuras de las moléculas a medida que fue descubriendo la Química en internet; de hecho, según sus padres, a través de la navegación por la Red se educó a sí mismo en la ciencia.

Child prodigies and the media

Interviews with the press can be difficult at any age, but how much more difficult is it when the interviewee is a child of seven?

Yesterday, I had a chance to find out. A couple of journalists came to see Ainan, to have a word with him and get a story out of him. Ainan received the first one with a quiet welcome and went along with his requests for photographs. He posed as required and was quite co-operative. All went well with that one. It is the second, however, that showed how careful one must be to approach a child prodigy in the right way.

I was asked to speak on tape, for a radio broadcast, about Ainan. I did so. The reporter was a general reporter, rather than a science reporter and so matters were kept non-technical. This was fine for me...but for Ainan it wasn't the best approach. When asked general questions, he wouldn't answer. In this I see a lot of shyness, at work. He didn't have to speak to the other journalist, for that one only wanted photographs. This one wanted speech.

"So, Ainan what do you find interesting about Science and Chemistry?"

A long silence as the tape listened to nothing.

I knew what to do:

"So, Ainan what is special about fullerenes?"

"They have a lot of delocalized electrons..."

"And what does this do?"

"They hold it together..."

Only on science itself, would he speak.

He busied himself with bashing the hell out of something in a metal box. From my perspective I could see that he appeared to be pulverizing something. I am not sure she could see that.

She tried to engage him:

"So what are you doing there?"

Another long silence.

"OK...don't force him." The journalist said - and left the matter alone.

I pointed to my son, Ainan, as he bashed away, ignoring her and said: "He is always experimenting with things."

I don't know whether she really understood that he was engaged in some kind of experiment. He always is. I know him well and even if I don't understand why he is doing something, I know enough to know that it is ALWAYS going to be part of an experiment he has in mind.

She left, shortly, without the quotes she needed for a full interview with Ainan.

After she had gone, I asked Ainan about his bashing:

"So what are you doing?"

He looked up, then, as if suddenly freed of a burden and able to speak once more and informed me, quietly: "I am making a non-Newtonian fluid."

That quietened me. Why didn't he say that to her?

Ainan is concealed from the gaze of strangers. In their presence he will not "perform". It is only when they are gone that he relaxes and becomes himself. In this way, he may prove difficult to pin-down, to observe, or capture. It is my duty therefore, to paint a portrait of him - for others may find him less accessible.

It was funny in a way. She probably thought he was being childish, bashing away at a box, for reasons that seemed utterly trivial - but what was he engaged in: a synthetic experiment, to make a material with a particular property.

Later on, he showed me the material. He had indeed made a "non-Newtonian fluid".

Well done, my elusive boy.

(If you would like to read more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and three months, or his gifted brothers, 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 in general. Thanks.)