Wonder Boy

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Wonder Boy

A local math whiz takes problem solving to the nth degree.

by Walters

July 27, 2005

Bobby s, 11, likes to be called " TIM AXOY " because in capital

letters each letter is symmetrical on the vertical axis. He uses the

name as his pen name, too, writing his own math books with problems

he's created in his spare time. When Bobby was 4 or 5, his mother,

Eileen s, recalls, he wanted to be called " Pi " because he knew

at least 50 digits of pi by heart. He's also called himself various

prime numbers.

Bobby's latest passion is solving crosscodes — crosswords without

any clues, in which each number is a letter that must be figured

out. He creates them too. Bobby has Asperger syndrome, a kind of

high-functioning autism, sometimes classified in its own category

and often associated with savant-type mathematicians, musicians and

scientists.

In February he competed in and won the regional MATHCOUNTS

competition sponsored by the Richmond Chapter of the Virginia

Society of Professional Engineers. The local mathematics contest is

open to all middle-school students, and Bobby, a sixth-grader from

Chesterfield County who is home-schooled, ranked first among 108

registered students in both the oral and written exams. The day of

the competition, he wore his favorite lucky shirt bearing the prime

number 5113.

But luck has little to do with Bobby's talent. His knack for

figuring out in his head what most can't on paper has garnered him

mention in the book " A Passion for Mathematics: Numbers, Puzzles,

Madness, Religion, and the Quest for Reality, " by Clifford A.

Pickover, published July 8 by Wiley and Sons and available at

area bookstores. It's the 37th book by Pickover on the marvels of

math. And Bobby's name appears on page 34.

In his previous book, " Wonders of Numbers, " Pickover recounts the

story of child prodigy Truman Henry Safford (1836-1901) being asked

to square, in his head, the number 365,365,365,365,365,365. He does.

The answer: 133,491,850,208,566,925,016,658,299,941, 583,225.

Bobby is the reason the anecdote is repeated in Pickover's new book.

The credit reads: " Bobby s, a ten-year-old math whiz from

Virginia, wrote to me with the corrected version that you see here.

He was the only person to have discovered my earlier typographical

error. "

This latest nod to Bobby's skills seems to affirm how the finite

world is tested by those who are different, by the unpredictable —

or unknown — among us. As a young child, Bobby had several life-

threatening illnesses, his mother says, declining to elaborate.

Whereas his body was vulnerable, his mind was strong. He was

fascinated not by mobiles but by mazes — anything logical such as

Pascal's triangle. He began speaking before he was 6 months old; he

was reading by age 1; and by age 2 he could compute simple addition

and subtraction problems, his mother says.

Two years ago, Bobby's parents asked him what his dream vacation

would be. His answer: a day spent with famed mathematician

Smullyan. So the s family set off for the evergreen climes of

the Catskill Mountains, where the reclusive octogenarian resides.

Smullyan and his wife welcomed the far-flung family, Eileen s

says, and Bobby spent the day with the math master.

Back in Richmond, Bobby's mathematical abilities quickly became too

advanced for his mother to match. She took him to the Maggie L.

Governor's School, where for a month or so he met with math

teacher , who marveled at Bobby's advanced understanding

of logic.

To a stranger, Bobby looks and talks like any other 11-year-old.

Well, mostly. His Asperger's, sometimes called the " little

professor's syndrome, " manifests itself in small yet pointed ways.

He may talk too loud in the library, for example, or make odd

sounds. " I call them social quirks or wackies, " Eileen s says.

Such anomalies all but disappear when Bobby buries his mind in math.

At the MATHCOUNTS competition at Virginia Commonwealth University's

Siegel Center earlier this year, Bobby earned a perfect score in a

speed round of mathematics questions à la Jeopardy. " Bobby is the

first with his type of disability to compete and reach this level, "

says Becky Draper, coordinator of the competition.

That day Bobby won two trophies. " He kind of did a dance as if to

say, `Oh, I'm free,' " Draper says. " He was the happiest boy in the

room, and not because he won. "

Perhaps it's because math fosters in Bobby a sense of confidence,

equipping him with what others take for granted.

In the oppressive heat of early afternoon last week, he rides his

bike through his South Side neighborhood, creating his own breeze.

He takes a break to talk math. " I like prime numbers, " he says,

explaining that a prime number is one only divisible by itself and

the number 1. On July 21, his favorite prime number is 57,006,333,

209,670,437. That said, he excuses himself to " go play " and make

water balloons.

He'll use math to make sense of life, his mother opines. " I think

doing [math] will help him navigate in the world, " she says. " He's

told me he'd like to find the mathematical formula that ties the

whole universe together. " S

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