Outliers: The Story of Success · chapter 3 · id outliers-c3-04-two-children-screened-by-terma
“Two children screened by Terman's team but rejected for insufficient IQ scores -- William Shockley (IQ ~125-129) and Luis Alvarez -- later won Nobel Prizes in Physics, illustrating the limitations of IQ thresholds for predicting eminence.”
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Receipts
Warne (2020), Intelligence: Low base rates and a high IQ selection threshold prevented Terman from identifying future Nobelistspaywalled — manual check queued
Of the 168,000 children screened, two who were not selected later won Nobel Prizes: William Shockley (IQ scores of 129 and 125) and Luis Alvarez.
Russell Warne blog: Terman's Non-Geniuses: Shockley and Alvarezsource alive
Shockley took intelligence tests twice in childhood, scoring 129 and 125. Root-Bernstein (2015) reported IQs in the 120s for Nobel laureates James Watson and Richard Feynman.
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