Engraving by Henry Meyer after T Hull of ‘A Child just eight years of age, endowed by nature with the remarkable faculty of solving a great variety of arithmetical questions by the mere operation of his mind.’ Zerah (1804-1840) apparently had six fingers on each hand and 12 toes on each foot. He was able to carry out amazing feats of mental arithmetic: he was asked the question: How many seconds in 2000 years?, to which he replied ‘730,000 days, 1,051,200,000 minutes, 63,072,000,000 seconds’.

Picture Reference: 10198673
Subject: PERSONALITIES > > Colburn, Zerah
Inventory No.: 1989-0489
Credit: Science Museum Pictorial

Keywords: 1780-1818, 1800s, 19th Century, American, Badminton, Bats, Boy, Child, Child Prodigies, Children, Colburn, Colburn, Zerah, Europe, Hull, T, Industrial Revolution, Male, Mathematicians, Mathematics, Meyer, Henry Hoppner, People, Portrait, Prodigies, Science, Shuttlecocks, Sport, Uk, United Kingdom, Zerah

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