Thomas Fuller — America’s First African Mathematician: An 18th Century Slave Who was a Math Prodigy Known as the "Virginia Calculator"

Math Science History ^ | Gabrielle Birchak

[bhl]

IQ accurately predicts how well people do on tests, performance in education, accomplishing tasks, and earning money. And it is easily measured. But it is also the numerical system used to define the word genius.

Multiplying large numbers is no easy task.. so he was either a savant or a general genius. An interesting story.

[SmokingJoe]

He was good at arithmetic, adding , multiplying etc in his head, but was he really a mathematician? Nope.

[ml/nj]

Multiplication is Arithmetic. Arithmetic is NOT Mathematics.

ML/NJ

[AFreeBird]

Reading for the most part was, is not outright forbidden, discouraged. Math on the other hand would have been considered a useful skill for someone who could be ordered to load X bushels of barley onto a wagon.