A brainy schoolboy who is obsessed with space took an IQ test and got a better score than Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.
Julien Deleau-Lees was aged just 10 when he passed with flying colors, scoring 162—the maximum given to under-18s on the intelligence test.
He is now one of the youngest members of the genius club Mensa.
It means his IQ is higher than German-born physicist Albert Einstein and black hole theorist Stephen Hawking, whose scores were both around 160.
Julien, a seventh-year pupil at King Edward VI School in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, UK, now intends to follow in the footsteps of his hero, the late Stephen Hawking.
“I think I would like to do astrophysics and study space and physics,“ the youngster, who is now 12, said. “I like quantum physics. Black holes are interesting. I have always been inspired by Stephen Hawking.”
He found Mr. Hawking’s ideas fascinating, he said, and wanted to explore his theorems further to “improve our understanding of the universe.”
Julien traveled to Birmingham to sit the Mensa test in 2022 and says it was “fairly easy.”
“I wanted to take the test when I was 8. I was curious what score I would get, but I waited a couple more years,” he said. “The test was fairly easy for me. I look for things that are similar across rows and columns—and consider the possibilities.
“If you see a similarity, that’s quite often where the solution is.”
When Julien is not studying for tests or reading up on quantum physics, the youngster blows off steam playing computer games with his friends online.
He said he is a fan of video games like Fortnite.
“I always really liked maths and physics, specifically space, but I also like games a lot,” he said. “It’s not intellectual, I just find them entertaining and fun, especially when you play with your friends.”
Julien even built his own computer after his existing one lacked the memory power he wanted for his gaming.
His proud mother, Jane, 58, an estate agent, realized her son was special when she noticed his remarkable ability to calculate huge math problems in his head.
“He’s been bright from a young age. He’s been always very mature in his thinking,“ she said. “He’s always loved maths since he was really young. Anything to do with maths, he did it recreationally.”
Julien wanted to challenge himself and often took math problems home from school.
“He’s got this ridiculous ability to do these big numbers. I don’t know how he stores it all, but he can work it out in his head,“ his mom said. “It’s always been remarked that he always gets an answer very quickly.”
Her son built a big gaming PC, she said, because he wanted one more powerful than a laptop.
“He got all the components, did a shopping list on Amazon, and he built it all. He wired it all up, and it’s all lit up,” she said. “I can’t help him at all. He really does just get on with it.
“I think he enjoys the challenge.”
But Julien’s biggest love is science, said his mom, his favorite subject being space, and he developed immense knowledge about what goes on there.
“He can easily explain black holes and stars. He can always go so much deeper than that,“ she said, adding that he wants to be a quantum physicist and an astrophysicist. “He’s interested and questions it.”
Julien’s fascination with space is matched only by his “real ability to understand it,” she said, adding that “he’s like a sponge.”
Both his grandparents are surgeons, while his dad is a chemistry and math whiz.
Jane said her son is the same.
“He loves challenges and being tested,” she said. “He enjoys tests and quizzes at school. I think he just finds that competitive.”
Julien is studying his GCSEs a year earlier than his classmates. He hopes to add Greek and Latin to his CV.
“I am really proud of him. I’m more proud of him because he’s such a lovely kid,” Jane said. “His homework is always top marks. He has his own homework days, he has a timetable. He’s acing it.”
