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Marilyn vos Savant (born August 11, 1946) is an American newspaper columnist who deals with mathematical and logical puzzles, as well as more traditional self-help advice and solicitations for her opinion. Her column Ask Marilyn appears in Parade magazine, and she has used it as the basis of two books. The last name "vos Savant" is her mother's maiden name.
Her adult IQ has been estimated to be 180 using more modern techniques than were available in the 1960s.
Her IQ of 228 has traditionally been billed as the world's highest until 2003, when Sho Yano took the title with a figure so high that it is unmeasurable, but beyond 228.
Among mathematicians, vos Savant is best known for publicizing the Monty Hall problem, a probabilistic conundrum concerning the game-show host of that name. Its solution is not obvious and has led to some disagreement even in the mathematical field.
Vos Savant is also famous for opining that Andrew Wiles's proof of Fermat's last theorem was invalid because it used non-Euclidean geometry, which she does not accept. This view was criticized by some in the mathematical community.[1] (http://www.wiskit.com/marilyn/fermat.html)
Currently (2004), vos Savant is the Chief Financial Officer for Jarvik Hearts, Inc. Her husband is Robert Jarvik, inventor of the Jarvik-7 and Jarvik 2000 artificial hearts.
External links
- Ask Mariln Online (http://www.marilynvossavant.com/)
- Marilyn is Wrong! (http://www.wiskit.com/marilyn/marilyn.html)--a web site which critiques some of vos Savant's columns
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