4 ms·

If you liked this story, there are more like it, e.g. Natalie Portman - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/01/science/01angier.html http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/

by troymc 12y ago

If you liked this story, there are more like it, e.g. Natalie Portman - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/01/science/01angier.html http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/01/science/01angier.html Brian May - http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jun/07/science/sci-queen7 http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jun/07/science/sci-queen7

robotnoises 12y ago
Also Danica McKellar (Winnie Cooper from the wonder years) http://www.mathdoesntsuck.com/ http://www.mathdoesntsuck.com/
- msutherl 12y ago
  Not sports, but here's Dan Snaith's (of Caribou, Manitoba, Daphni) PhD thesis: http://wwwf.imperial.ac.uk/~buzzard/maths/research/notes/sp2n.pdf http://wwwf.imperial.ac.uk/~buzzard/maths/research/notes/sp2...
  - sinwave 12y ago
    Yeah, imagining him touring while writing his thesis has been a source of inspiration lately.
- foobarqux 12y ago
  Fun fact: Her sister graduated Harvard Law and works for Peter Thiel's late stage growth fund Mithril Capital.
swimfar 12y ago
I like finding out things like this about people. Very talented athletes who are also very smart are not as rare as people would think. (Anecdote warning) Many of the most talented athletes I know are very intelligent people. Here are some more examples of athletes: http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/feed/2010-09/smart-athletes/story/sporting-news-names-the-20-smartest-athletes-in-sports http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/feed/2010-09/smart-athletes/... If you think an engineering degree is tough, try doing one while also training 30+ hours/week. ;) The list of multi-talented musicians and actors is also fun to read about. Greg Graffin, the lead singer of Bad Religion, has a PhD in Zoology from Cornell. Here are some more: http://entertainment.time.com/2012/09/07/school-of-rock-10-super-smart-musicians/ http://entertainment.time.com/2012/09/07/school-of-rock-10-s...
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- clarky07 12y ago
  I was never a pro level athlete, but I did play a very time consuming sport in college at a decently high level. Most people have no idea how hard it is for athletes, especially when getting a degree in something like engineering, or in my case Computer Science. During each spring semester, I missed roughly 30-40% of my classes because of travel. Some weeks I would be gone for 3 of the 5 days.
  - Bahamut 12y ago
    That was why I passed up playing Division I tennis in favor of my studies (math & physics) - in retrospect, I should have probably at least tried, since competitive athletics comes with people surrounding you who do their best to make sure you get your work done, and the intense exercise would have been great for me. I have a lot of respect for college athletes who pursue difficult majors.
- puranjay 12y ago
  The greatest lie ever told is that athletes and rockstars are 'dumb'. All serious musicians I know are nerdier than most denizens of /b/. You have to be if you have to devote 8+ hours to an instrument (in the case of athletes, that instrument is their body). They just manage to do a very good job of masking it. Honestly, I might have had a different career trajectory had I known that you could be nerdy and still be a cool rockstar or athlete.
  - Smoofer 12y ago
    Really, I relate "nerdiness" with any kind of deep interest or passion. Although, not every person who is stereo-typically "nerdy" enough to browse /b/ necessarily devotes their time to something productive: be that learning an instrument, training your body, hacking, or whatever. There's a distinction to be made between "stereotypical nerd" (Poor social skills, good with computer, basement dweller) and what I consider "actual nerds" (those with a passion or deep interest in something that they then attribute an ungodly amount of time to).
olalonde 12y ago
Bob Parson (Godaddy founder) is also not your typical SV founder although I'm not sure he belongs in that list. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Parsons http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Parsons
cafebeen 12y ago
I'll throw in Blossom too: http://alumni.ucla.edu/share/alumni-stories/stories/mayim-bialik.aspx http://alumni.ucla.edu/share/alumni-stories/stories/mayim-bi...
lemming 12y ago
And Dolf Lundgren: degrees in chemistry and chemical engineering, awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to MIT, speaks seven languages (three fluently), twice European Heavyweight Kyokushin Karate champion, accomplished musician...

by troymc 12y ago

robotnoises 12y ago

Also Danica McKellar (Winnie Cooper from the wonder years) http://www.mathdoesntsuck.com/ http://www.mathdoesntsuck.com/

msutherl 12y ago
Not sports, but here's Dan Snaith's (of Caribou, Manitoba, Daphni) PhD thesis: http://wwwf.imperial.ac.uk/~buzzard/maths/research/notes/sp2n.pdf http://wwwf.imperial.ac.uk/~buzzard/maths/research/notes/sp2...
- sinwave 12y ago
  Yeah, imagining him touring while writing his thesis has been a source of inspiration lately.
foobarqux 12y ago
Fun fact: Her sister graduated Harvard Law and works for Peter Thiel's late stage growth fund Mithril Capital.

swimfar 12y ago

I like finding out things like this about people. Very talented athletes who are also very smart are not as rare as people would think. (Anecdote warning) Many of the most talented athletes I know are very intelligent people. Here are some more examples of athletes: http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/feed/2010-09/smart-athletes/story/sporting-news-names-the-20-smartest-athletes-in-sports http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/feed/2010-09/smart-athletes/... If you think an engineering degree is tough, try doing one while also training 30+ hours/week. ;) The list of multi-talented musicians and actors is also fun to read about. Greg Graffin, the lead singer of Bad Religion, has a PhD in Zoology from Cornell. Here are some more: http://entertainment.time.com/2012/09/07/school-of-rock-10-super-smart-musicians/ http://entertainment.time.com/2012/09/07/school-of-rock-10-s...

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
clarky07 12y ago
I was never a pro level athlete, but I did play a very time consuming sport in college at a decently high level. Most people have no idea how hard it is for athletes, especially when getting a degree in something like engineering, or in my case Computer Science. During each spring semester, I missed roughly 30-40% of my classes because of travel. Some weeks I would be gone for 3 of the 5 days.
- Bahamut 12y ago
  That was why I passed up playing Division I tennis in favor of my studies (math & physics) - in retrospect, I should have probably at least tried, since competitive athletics comes with people surrounding you who do their best to make sure you get your work done, and the intense exercise would have been great for me. I have a lot of respect for college athletes who pursue difficult majors.
puranjay 12y ago
The greatest lie ever told is that athletes and rockstars are 'dumb'. All serious musicians I know are nerdier than most denizens of /b/. You have to be if you have to devote 8+ hours to an instrument (in the case of athletes, that instrument is their body). They just manage to do a very good job of masking it. Honestly, I might have had a different career trajectory had I known that you could be nerdy and still be a cool rockstar or athlete.
- Smoofer 12y ago
  Really, I relate "nerdiness" with any kind of deep interest or passion. Although, not every person who is stereo-typically "nerdy" enough to browse /b/ necessarily devotes their time to something productive: be that learning an instrument, training your body, hacking, or whatever. There's a distinction to be made between "stereotypical nerd" (Poor social skills, good with computer, basement dweller) and what I consider "actual nerds" (those with a passion or deep interest in something that they then attribute an ungodly amount of time to).

olalonde 12y ago

Bob Parson (Godaddy founder) is also not your typical SV founder although I'm not sure he belongs in that list. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Parsons http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Parsons

cafebeen 12y ago

I'll throw in Blossom too: http://alumni.ucla.edu/share/alumni-stories/stories/mayim-bialik.aspx http://alumni.ucla.edu/share/alumni-stories/stories/mayim-bi...

lemming 12y ago

And Dolf Lundgren: degrees in chemistry and chemical engineering, awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to MIT, speaks seven languages (three fluently), twice European Heavyweight Kyokushin Karate champion, accomplished musician...