Top 10 Giant Brains

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Top 10 Giant Brains
There's no Academy Award for Brains, but if there were, this Top 10 List would be the red carpet. So here we are, giving you Behind-the-Scenes, exclusive access on the world's most prodigious men and women, and who they're wearing (and by "who they're wearing" we mean "what they've accomplished"). There will be tears, victory, upsets—but read on to find out who exactly takes home the coveted prize. (Spoiler alert: an honor of Titanic proportions goes to another famous Leo ...)
1: Leonardo da Vinci
Maybe curiosity killed the cat, but for Leonardo da Vinci, curiosity didn't kill nothin'! It has often been said that Leo's insatiable curiosity was matched only by his resulting inventions. He's also known as one of the most widely diverse men in terms of talents, jumping from math and science to art and writing, botany to music. He was also an enormous influence on our No. 2 prodigy, Albert Einstein.
There are very, VERY few people in the world who can reach success in one area of expertise (yes, sorry Beyoncé, Peyton Manning and Shaq, you've had your days in the sun!), but our man da Vinci achieved success of epic proportions in myriad arenas, blowing all of his list-mates completely out of the water (yes, even The Prodigy!). Of course, the final deciding factor as to whether or not da Vinci was list-worthy was having a confusing movie starring Tom Hanks constantly reference him and his worksmdash;that's when you know you've made it.
Somewhere, Mona Lisa is half-smiling.
2: Albert Einstein
It has long been said that Einstein was not exactly the brightest kid when he was growing up; still, we don't know many 12-year-olds that willingly delve into the world of Euclidean geometry and infinitesimal calculus. Sometimes it's fun to wonder if or how his parents bragged about him to their friends at cocktail parties. Of all his life's works, perhaps he is best remembered for his revolutionary "E=mc²" equation—but does anyone actually know what it means? Nah, you'd have to be a prodigy to figure THAT out.
3: Marie Curie
So now that you've finally gotten all the "submarine with a screen door" jokes out of your system, meet our very own7mdash;drum roll please!—Polish prodigy. Seriously! If you're not interested in shattering all the stereotypes you've grown to know and love, then you may want to discontinue use of product and skip ahead to No. 2.
If you're still here, we definitely need to address the fact that Miss Curie is the only—yes, only!—person to win a Nobel Prize in two separate scientific fields ... making winning ONLY one Nobel Prize a TOTAL snooze-fest these days. Yawn!
She's more than just a pair of Nobel Prizes, though. Marie Curie developed knowledge on radioactivity that hadn't existed yet; she isolated radium and discovered polonium ("Big Up" to her homeland!); she had degrees in math, chemistry AND physics; and frankly, she brought it all home and fried it up in a pan. It's safe to say Marie Curie was the original Wonder Woman.
So now we have a new answer to the age-old question "How many Polish people does it take to screw in a light bulb?" Answer: Just one. As long as it's Marie Curie.
4: Stephen Hawking
Although Stephen Hawking is probably known best in pop culture for his distinctive "voice," it is his unrivaled success in science, and his unparalleled discoveries that has earned him a spot on our list (the greatest honor of all). Of all his works, perhaps his best known is A Brief History of Time—an attempt to explain "simple" cosmology to the somewhat less-informed reader. OK, Stephen. You don't have to try so hard … you made our list.
5: Dr. Philip Henry "Hank" McCoy (AKA "Beast" from X-Men)
Let's all get serious: anyone played by Kelsey Grammer is gonna make this list. Except Frasier. And Sideshow Bob. Come to think of it, why aren't they on this list? But I digress. Beast's creators (Stan Lee and Jack Kirby)developed the character to have the interior contrast the exterior (sort of like the PT Cruiser, with its awesomely modern interior screaming to be driven, but an exterior that wheezes out an octogenarian's request to leave it by the curb for garbage day). Though X-Men has never been considered a "comic" book by conventional standards, I suppose it was subtle humor like this that made it stand apart from the others. Subtle like the "b" in "subtle."
6: Plato
"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
Better hedge our bets with this one: 'Nuff said.
7: Jessica Simpson
Don't be fooled by that hypnotically bleached blonde hair and Proactiv-induced porcelain skin; this chick is a PR prodigy of the utmost success. Need we remind you of Newlyweds and its (shudder) success? I rest my case.
Seriously, she is either really smart and playing dumb … or really dumb and being dumb. For our purposes, we'll assume the former, though it's the inability to ignore the latter that would make the former so successful—am I right? Or am I right?
Which begs the question: is it fish, or is it chicken? She knows. Oh, she knows.
8: Doogie Howser, M.D.
DEC. 13, 1992 … Today I'm reminded of all the rad things I've done: the perfect score on my SATs at age 6 … graduating from Princeton before most kids even know what puberty is … becoming a doctor at the unconscionable age of 14 …
BLINKING CURSOR.
PENSIVE STARE.
SMILE—REALIZATION.
But I wouldn't change any of it. 'Cause I'm a freakin' kid. And I'm a freakin' doctor. And I'm freakin' awesome. I'm like the OP (Original Prodigy). I deserve some mad props.
SAME PENSIVE STARE.
SMILE—SATISFACTION.
CREDITS.
9: The Prodigy
Now you know we couldn't have a list of giant brains and not mention a prodigy. It was between "The Prodigy" and "Prodigy" from X-Men—ultimately, we decided anyone who seriously titled something "Smack My Bitch Up" deserved the win. Do you blame us? Other things that earned them the win were having a previous guitarist named Sharky, an EP entitled Baby's Got a Temper, and producing a video that was only allowed to be shown in the wee hours of the morning. Seriously … do you blame us?
10: Thomas Alva Edison
There isn't too much fun stuff out there that Thomas Edison hasn't had a hand in. In fact the movies, or possibly even Hollywood, wouldn't exist without this man. Yes, that means that Star Wars would not be in your life right now! Ah-ha! Those are books, you say? You just got a light bulb over your head, didn't you? Yep. He invented that, too.
Ya learn something you already knew every day.
(Author Deepak Kumar)