Rüdiger Gamm is a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 "mental calculator

Mental calculator

Mental calculators are people with a prodigious ability in some area of mental calculation, such as multiplying large numbers or factoring large numbers...

". He attained the ability to mentally evaluate large arithmetic expressions at the age of 21. He can also speak backwards, and calculate calendar

Calendar

A calendar is a system of organizing days for social, religious, commercial, or administrative purposes. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months, and years. The name given to each day is known as a date. Periods in a calendar are usually, though not...

s. Featured on the Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...

 program The Real Superhumans

The Real Superhumans

The Real Superhumans and the Quest for the Future Fantastic is a two hour long special from the Discovery Channel which aired in 2007. It follows four people with what are described as "real life superhuman abilities", a geneticist who created the first chimera of two very different species of...

, he was examined by Allan Snyder

Allan Snyder

Allan Whitenack Snyder is the director of the Centre for the Mind at the University of Sydney, Australia where he also holds the 150th Anniversary Chair of Science and the Mind...

, an expert on savants, who concluded that Gamm's ability was not a result of savant syndrome

Savant syndrome

Savant syndrome , sometimes referred to as savantism, is a rare condition in which people with developmental disorders have one or more areas of expertise, ability, or brilliance that are in contrast with the individual's overall limitations...

 but connected to genetics

Genetics

Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....

.

In terms of mental calculations, Gamm's most notable talent is the ability to memorise large powers. In the 2008 Mental Calculation World Cup

Mental Calculation World Cup

-Mental Calculation World Cup 2004:The first Mental Calculation World Cup was held in Annaberg-Buchholz, Germany on 30 October 2004. There were 17 participants from 10 countries.The World Cup involved the following contests :...

 in Leipzig, he recited 81¹⁰⁰, which took approximately 2 minutes and 30 seconds. In the tournament itself, he performed strongly, finishing in 5th position overall.

See also

• Mental calculator
  Mental calculator
  Mental calculators are people with a prodigious ability in some area of mental calculation, such as multiplying large numbers or factoring large numbers...
  
  
• Beautiful Minds
  Beautiful Minds (TV miniseries)
  Beautiful Minds: A Voyage Into The Brain was a 2006 documentary on super-talented savants. Prof. Gerhard Roth of the University of Bremen in Germany, and Dr. Darold Treffert of the University of Wisconsin Medical School in USA introduced savants from different countries...
  
  : A Voyage Into the Brain, a documentary produced in 2006 by colourFIELD tell-a-vision, a German company