An Arithmetical Prodigy in Egypt

Abstract

A BOY of unusual arithmetical ability named Mohammed Ismail Turki El Attar has recently died in a Government asylum in Cairo. He was the son of a grocer in a small country village near Teh el Barud in the Delta, and when first discovered used to make a precarious living by exhibiting his powers as a calculator in cafés in Cairo. He was unable to read or write and was obviously a boy of poor general intelligence. His powers were tested on various occasions. The following is a summary of some of the calculations he performed mentally.