The Mexican nine-year-old studying chemistry at university
*He memorized the periodic table of elements when he was five years-old. Es todo. VL
By Marina Gómez-Robledo, El País
Carlos Santamaría Díaz’s feet do not touch the floor when he sits down at his desk in the chemistry department at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). That’s because, while his classmates all seem to have finished college at the very least, Carlos is just nine years old.
[pullquote]When they taught him a letter, he wanted to know all of them. When they taught him a planet, he looked for all of them.[/pullquote]He learned to read at the age of three and became interested in chemistry when he was five. “He has a gift for processing information,” says his father, Fabián Santamaría. “He began going to nursery school when he was a year and half. When they taught him a letter, he wanted to know all of them. When they taught him a planet, he looked for all of them.”
His parents avoid using the word “genius” and prefer only to rely on the facts: “By the age of five he could understand a whole high school science book and he learned the periodic table in a few weeks.”
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[Photo courtesy of El País]
