From the cover of the excellent biography by Michael White and John Gribbin.

From Einstein to Escher, Tesla to Twain, Marie Curie to Paul McCartney – they were all kids once. What were the signs of their future achievements in their childhood? What were they like at the age you are now? What topics really turned them on? What hurdles did they have to overcome? And did they have to work hard? Through exploring the biographies of a range of achievers, you are not only led to understand the real people behind the names, but the influences which surrounded them when they were kids. This is a challenging way to do a biography which is designed to be adapted to suit any age group, or as an extension to any subject area. 

Your Task is to discover:

What were they like at your age?
And what led to their achievements?

Famous People were all kids and teenagers. Many biographies skip this vital stage, yet autobiographies tend to dwell on it. You may approach this task in a number of ways, three of which are represented here. Click on the links to choose the approach to best suit your needs.

There are NO right answers to this task!

You may choose anyone who suits your purpose to research. The biographies listed are only samples.

Task Type One

Within a Field

You may choose to look at a variety of the biographical questions listed below, focusing on an individual or a few achievers from a given subject area.

This particularly suits extension for a specific subject at school.

Task Type Two

Across Fields

You may wish to take one or two of the questions and compare biographies of great achievers across fields. Do they all show signs of achievement as children or have to go that extra step?

This particularly suits a research project on achievement or psychology.

Task Type Three

Matching You

You may prefer to investigate the biographies of people who in some way reflect who you are or where you hope you are going. Or you may wish to have a look at personality traits which reflect your own.

This particularly suits an individual project.

The Questions and Sample Biographies

1. What was the first indication of interest in their field? What exactly? Albert Einstein
2. Is the field of achievement represented in the family background? The Leakeys
3. Did they display an obsessive nature and single minded passion for the topic? Marie Curie
4. Is there evidence of a chance event which had a huge impact on their direction? Paul McCartney
5. Did they not only have to overcome adversity, but turn it to a gain? Stephen Hawking
6. Were they able to have a normal life - job, marriage, time at home with the kids? Charles Darwin
7. Did they display perseverance? Thomas Edison
8. Is it perfectionism or a striving for excellence they show? Is there a difference? Henry Ford
9. Did they take that extra step beyond the norm to make their mark? Richard Owen
10. Did they have to work hard to get the break? J.K. Rowling
11. Did their learning come from within or beyond traditional education? Mark Twain
12. What were they like socially at school? Robin Williams
13. Were they an only child, first born or one of many? Beethoven
14. Did they have mentors key to their development in their field of achievement? M.C. Escher
15. Did they grasp at opportunities on the way up? Oprah Winfrey
16. Did they not only overcome opposition, but turn it to a gain? Nelson Mandela
17. Is genius really so very near to insanity? Nikola Tesla
18. Were they focused in a narrow field or work across different disciplines? Lewis Carroll
19. What REALLY motivated them? Mother Teresa
20. And was it nature or nurture or a bit of both? C. S. Lewis