Struck By Genius

 Jason Padgett is the author of Struck By Genius: How A Brain Injury Made Me A Mathematical Marvel. This is his story to tell. Maureen Ann Seaberg is also the author of this book. She helped Jason tell his incredible story. As a child Jason didn't like math. As an adult he worked at his father's futon store and went out partying. One night after a karaoke session at a bar Jason was attacked from behind by two men. His friends were ahead of him. His male friend ran away. His female friend went back into the bar to get help. Later he went to the hospital. He had a severe traumatic brain injury. He coped by staying home more and isolating himself. He quit working. He quit leaving the house. Over time he began to notice that things looked different to him. Numbers suddenly acquired geometric shapes. Seeing shapes with numbers meant that he now had synesthesia. He saw crystals coming out of the water faucet. Looking up into the branches of trees he saw geometric shapes. Eventually he started to attend a local college to learn about geometry, physics and algebra. He understood the equations and the computations although he didn't have to vocabulary used by mathematicians. He was now a mathematical savant. He started drawing geometric shapes. He went back to work at the futon store. I enjoyed reading his story. At times he comes across as self aggrandizing but overall this was a good book.