Spark How Genius Ignites, From Child Prodigies to Late Bloomers Claudia Kalb Washington, D.C. Published by National Geographic Partners, LLC 1145 17th Street NW Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2021 Claudia Kalb. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission from the publisher is prohibited. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC and Yellow Border Design are trademarks of the National Geographic Society, used under license. The text permissions for this book appear on pages 353–354. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Kalb, Claudia, author. | National Geographic Partners (U.S.) Title: Spark : how genius ignites, from child prodigies to late bloomers / Claudia Kalb. Description: Washington, DC : National Geographic Partners, LLC, [2021] | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “A look at genius, through portraits of 13 iconic figures in fields ranging from music to medicine, to explore what leads certain people to reach their creative heights early in life, whereas others don’t uncover their potential until their later years”-- Provided by publisher. Identifiers: LCCN 2020043781 (print) | LCCN 2020043782 (ebook) | ISBN 9781426220937 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781426220944 (ebook) | 9781426222320 (audiobook) Subjects: LCSH: Creative ability. | Genius. | Personality. | Psychology. Classification: LCC BF408 .K224 2021 (print) | LCC BF408 (ebook) | DDC 153.3/5--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020043781 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020043782 Since 1888, the National Geographic Society has funded more than 13,000 research, explo- ration, and preservation projects around the world. National Geographic Partners distributes a portion of the funds it receives from your purchase to National Geographic Society to support programs, including the conservation of animals and their habitats. Get closer to National Geographic explorers and photographers, and connect with our global community. Join us today at nationalgeographic.com/join For rights or permissions inquiries, please contact National Geographic Books Subsidiary Rights: [email protected] Interior design: Melissa Farris Illustrations: Allison Bruns Printed in the United States of America Sources and Notes Throughout the course of my research, I conducted interviews with academic scholars, biographers, neuroscientists, and psychologists. A wide variety of addi- tional sources informed my understanding of the mind, human behavior, and genius—and, more specifically, the science of prodigies, midlifers, and late bloomers. Because details from this research are seeded throughout the book, I am grouping these overview materials below. Source material for individual chapters follows. SCIENCE OF GENIUS Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Creativity: The Psychology of Discovery and Invention (New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2013); Angela Duckworth, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance (New York: Scribner, 2016); David Epstein, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World (New York: Riverhead Books, 2019); Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool, Peak: Secrets From the New Science of Expertise (New York: Mariner Books, 2017); Howard Gardner, Extraordinary Minds: Portraits of 4 Exceptional Individuals and an Examination of Our Own Extraordinariness (New York: Basic Books, 1997); William B. Irvine, Aha! The Moments of Insight That Shape Our World (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015); Kay Redfield Jamison, Exuberance: The Passion for Life(New York: - 333 - Spark Vintage Books, 2005); Claudia Kalb, Andy Warhol Was a Hoarder: Inside the Minds of History’s Great Personalities (Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 2016); Scott Barry Kaufman and Carolyn Gregoire, Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind (New York: Tarcher Perigee, 2016); Mario Livio, Why: What Makes Us Curious (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2017); Darrin M. McMahon, Divine Fury: A History of Genius (New York: Basic Books, 2013); Joel N. Shurkin, Terman’s Kids: The Groundbreaking Study of How the Gifted Grow Up (Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Co., 1992); Dean Keith Simonton, Genius 101 (New York: Springer Publishing, 2009); Simonton, Greatness: Who Makes History and Why (New York: Guilford Press, 1994); Simonton, ed., The Wiley Handbook of Genius (Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 2014). PRODIGIES, MIDLIFERS, LATE BLOOMERS Patricia Cohen, In Our Prime: The Fascinating History and Promising Future of Middle Age (New York: Scribner, 2012); David W. Galenson, Old Masters and Young Geniuses: The Two Life Cycles of Artistic Creativity(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2007); Barbara Bradley Hagerty, Life Reimagined: The Science, Art, and Opportunity of Midlife (New York: Riverhead Books, 2016); Ann Hul- bert, Off the Charts: The Hidden Lives and Lessons of American Child Prodigies (New York: Knopf, 2018); Rich Karlgaard, Late Bloomers: The Power of Patience in a World Obsessed With Early Achievement (New York: Currency, 2019); Jona- than Rauch, The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better After 50 (New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2018); Gail Sheehy, Passages: Predictable Crises of Adult Life (New York: Ballantine Books, 2006); Barbara Strauch, The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain: The Surprising Talents of the Middle-Aged Mind (New York: Penguin Books, 2010). In my research on the elements of genius, I also consulted hundreds of articles in the popular press and scientific journals. Although too numerous to cite, I direct readers to these online sources, which provide stories and programs that may be of interest: - 334 - Sources and Notes brainpickings.org; nobelprize.org; pbs.org; royalsociety.org; sciencefriday.com; scientificamerican.com. : I consulted copious sources to inform my biographical research on the 12 indi- viduals I profile, including: autobiographies, biographies, diaries, letters, maga- zine articles, newspaper stories, documentaries, and radio and television interviews. In my notes below, I have highlighted select materials mentioned within each chapter as well as some additional sources that proved especially informative. INTRODUCTION The introduction draws from material published in a cover story I wrote for National Geographic: “What Makes a Genius,” published in May 2017. CHAPTER 1: Pablo Picasso This chapter draws from material published in a cover story I wrote for National Geographic: “How Picasso’s Journey From Prodigy to Icon Revealed a Genius,” published in May 2018. Books and Exhibition Catalogs Alfred A. Barr, ed., Picasso: Forty Years of His Life (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1939); Gilberte Brassaï, Conversations With Picasso (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002); Jennifer Drake and Ellen Winner, “Why Deliberate Practice Is Not Enough: Evidence of Talent in Drawing,” in The Science of Expertise: Behav- ioral, Neural, and Genetic Approaches to Complex Skill, edited by David Z. Ham- brick, Guillermo Campitelli, and Brooke N. Macnamara (New York: Routledge, 2018); Françoise Gilot and Carlton Lake, Life With Picasso (London: Virago Press, 1990); Patrick O’Brian, Picasso: A Biography (New York: W.W. Norton, 1994); Fernande Olivier, Loving Picasso: The Private Journal of Fernande Olivier,translated - 335 - Spark by Christine Baker and Michael Raeburn (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2001); Roland Penrose, Picasso: His Life and Work (New York: Schocken Books, 1962); Marina Picasso, Picasso: My Grandfather (New York: Riverhead Books, 2001); Olivier Widmaier Picasso, Picasso: An Intimate Portrait (London: Tate Publishing, 2018); Widmaier Picasso, Picasso: The Real Family Story (New York: Prestel Pub- lishing, 2004); John Richardson, A Life of Picasso: The Prodigy, 1881-1906 (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2007); Richardson, A Life of Picasso: The Cubist Rebel, 1907-1916 (Alfred A. Knopf, 2007); Richardson, A Life of Picasso: The Triumphant Years, 1917-1932 (Alfred A. Knopf, 2007); Theodore Roosevelt, History as Liter- ature and Other Essays, (London: John Murray, 1914)*; Leo Stein, “More Adven- tures” in Four Americans in Paris: The Collections of Gertrude Stein and Her Family (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1970); Antonina Vallentin, Picasso (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1963); Ellen Winner, “Child Prodigies and Adult Genius: A Weak Link,” in Handbook of Genius, edited by Dean Keith Simonton (New York: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014). Newspapers, Magazines, and Scientific Journals Associated Press, “Picasso Paid Tribute with Louvre Exhibit,” in Oakland Tribune, October 24, 1971; Associated Press, “Pablo Picasso, Giant of Painting, Dies at 91,” in Fort Worth Star-Telegram, April 9, 1973; Jennifer Drake and Ellen Winner, “Children Gifted in Drawing: The Incidence of Precocious Realism,” Gifted Education International 29, No. 2 (2012), 125-139; Jennifer Drake and Ellen Winner, “Who Will Become a ‘Super Artist’?” The Psychologist 26, No. 10 (Octo- ber 2013), 730-733; Faraz Farzin et al., “Piecing It Together: Infants’ Neural Responses to Face and Object Structure,” Journal of Vision 12, No. 6 (December 2012); André Malraux, “As Picasso Said, Why Assume That to Look Is to See?” New York Times, November 2, 1975; Adrian Searle, “Storms of Colour From a Wild Destructive Genius,” Guardian, May 29, 2019; Edward Vessel et al., “The Brain on Art: Intense Aesthetic Experience Activates the Default Mode Network,” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 6 (April 2012); Ellen Winner, “Exceptional Artistic Development: The Role of Visual Thinking,” Journal of Aesthetic Educa-