History of Genius in Timeline

By Popular Timelines Editorial Team · Updated: July 27, 2025

Genius signifies exceptional and original insight, surpassing expectations and setting new standards in arts or endeavors. It involves intellectual ability and creative productivity, establishing superior methods and exceeding competitor capabilities. The term describes both the characteristic itself and individuals displaying it, including polymaths who excel across diverse subjects.

1911: Assessment of Intelligence by Francis Galton

In 1911, Francis Galton (1822–1911) initiated the assessment of intelligence, advocating for the analysis of reaction time and sensory acuity as measures of "neurophysiological efficiency" and intelligence.

1916: Terman's Stanford–Binet test

In 1916, Lewis Terman chose "'near' genius or genius" as the classification label for the highest classification on his version of the Stanford–Binet test.

1926: Terman's Genetic Studies of Genius

In 1926, Lewis Terman began publishing about a longitudinal study of California schoolchildren who were referred for IQ testing by their schoolteachers, called Genetic Studies of Genius, which he conducted for the rest of his life.

1937: Terman's Stanford–Binet test Revision

By the 1937 second revision of the Stanford–Binet test, Terman no longer used the term "genius" as an IQ classification.

1939: Wechsler on Genius Classification

In 1939, David Wechsler specifically commented that "we are rather hesitant about calling a person a genius on the basis of a single intelligence test score".

2010: Karolinska Institute Study on Creativity and Schizophrenia

In 2010, a study by the Karolinska Institute found that highly creative individuals and schizophrenics have a lower density of thalamic dopamine D2 receptors, which could mean a lower degree of signal filtering and a higher flow of information from the thalamus.