# Daniel Tammet
**Daniel Tammet** (born Daniel Paul Corney, 1979) is an English writer, essayist, and autistic savant known for his memoir *Born on a Blue Day* (2006), his memory recitation of pi to 22,514 decimal places, and a body of work on perception, language, mathematics, and the neurodivergent experience.[1](https://danieltammet.net/bio/) • [2](https://primary.jwwb.nl/plugin-documents/e64fc6d07d039a160866524cb7f6f2b83af06ad4.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1979, as Daniel Paul Corney; eldest of nine children, raised in Barking and Dagenham, East London[1](https://danieltammet.net/bio/) • [2](https://primary.jwwb.nl/plugin-documents/e64fc6d07d039a160866524cb7f6f2b83af06ad4.pdf) |
| Diagnoses | Temporal lobe epilepsy in childhood; autism and synaesthesia as a young adult; Asperger's syndrome at age 25[1](https://danieltammet.net/bio/) • [3](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/profiles/daniel-tammet-the-man-who-can-do-82-x-82-x-82-x-82-6094695.html) |
| Pi recitation | 22,514 decimal places from memory in 5 hours and 9 minutes, at the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, on 14 March 2004; a European record[4](https://thuprai.com/author/daniel-tammet/) |
| Best-known book | *Born on a Blue Day* (2006), a Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller that has sold over 500,000 copies[4](https://thuprai.com/author/daniel-tammet/) |
| Languages | Speaks 10 languages, including Lithuanian and Welsh, plus his invented language Mänti, with about 1,000 words[3](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/profiles/daniel-tammet-the-man-who-can-do-82-x-82-x-82-x-82-6094695.html) |
| Recognition | Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (2012); honorary doctorate from the Open University (2023); books translated into 30 languages[5](https://danieltammet.net/awards-and-recognition/) |
| Latest book | *Nine Minds* (2024), portraits of nine neurodivergent people, named a Sydney Morning Herald Best Read and a Waterstones Best Popular Science Book of 2024[6](https://danieltammet.net/nine-minds/) |
## Background
Tammet grew up in [East London](https://www.edgepedia.org/east-london) and was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy as a child, and with autism and synaesthesia as a young adult.[1](https://danieltammet.net/bio/) He was the eldest of nine children and was raised in the London boroughs of Barking and Dagenham.[2](https://primary.jwwb.nl/plugin-documents/e64fc6d07d039a160866524cb7f6f2b83af06ad4.pdf) His Asperger's diagnosis came at age 25, later than he would have preferred, and he has said that raising awareness of the condition was part of his motivation for writing.[3](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/profiles/daniel-tammet-the-man-who-can-do-82-x-82-x-82-x-82-6094695.html)
Before writing full time, he spent a gap year in [Lithuania](https://www.edgepedia.org/lithuania), where he briefly taught English as a second language, and later emigrated to France in 2008; he lives in Paris.[1](https://danieltammet.net/bio/) • [4](https://thuprai.com/author/daniel-tammet/) • [7](https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Daniel-Tammet/40401246) Tammet earned a First Class Honours degree in the humanities through the [Open University](https://www.edgepedia.org/open-university), and writing has been his full-time occupation since 2005.[1](https://danieltammet.net/bio/) Under his birth name he competed twice in the World Memory Championships in London, placing 11th in 1999 and 4th in 2000.[2](https://primary.jwwb.nl/plugin-documents/e64fc6d07d039a160866524cb7f6f2b83af06ad4.pdf)
## Synaesthesia and mental calculation
Tammet's synaesthesia, a blending of the senses, lets him process abstract information in tangible forms: words appear to him as colors and textures, and numbers as shapes and personalities.[1](https://danieltammet.net/bio/) In his account, every number up to 10,000 has a unique visual form with its own color, shape, and texture.[8](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/daniel-tammet-inside-the-mind-of-a-staggering-genius-236845.html) He has described prime numbers as feeling smooth, like pebbles, and scientists at California's Center for Brain Studies, who have studied him extensively, were surprised by his facility for discerning them.[3](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/profiles/daniel-tammet-the-man-who-can-do-82-x-82-x-82-x-82-6094695.html) • [7](https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Daniel-Tammet/40401246) He can multiply 277 by 539 in his head and can name the day of the week for a given date.[9](https://www.scotsman.com/news/daniel-tammet-interview-wide-sky-thinking-2466174)
**The pi recitation.** On 14 March 2004, Tammet recited the mathematical constant pi from memory to 22,514 decimal places in 5 hours and 9 minutes without error, at the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford, setting a European record and bringing him international attention.[4](https://thuprai.com/author/daniel-tammet/) • [10](https://blogmush.co.uk/daniel-tammet/)
His gift for languages is equally noted. For a television documentary he learned to understand Icelandic in a week,[11](https://danieltammet.net/reviews/) and he speaks ten languages, including Lithuanian and Welsh, as well as Mänti, a language he invented, with a vocabulary of about 1,000 words.[3](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/profiles/daniel-tammet-the-man-who-can-do-82-x-82-x-82-x-82-6094695.html)
## Writing career
Tammet's books span memoir, essays, creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and translation.[1](https://danieltammet.net/bio/) His first book, *Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant* (2006), recounts his childhood, autism, synaesthesia, relationship with numbers, language learning, and growing independence. It became a Sunday Times bestseller in 2006, and the US edition spent eight weeks on the New York Times bestseller list in 2007; it was named a Booklist Editors' Choice in 2007 and an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults in 2008, and has sold over 500,000 copies worldwide.[4](https://thuprai.com/author/daniel-tammet/) • [12](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/daniel-tammet/born-on-a-blue-day/) The title reflects his perception: his birth date feels blue to him.[10](https://blogmush.co.uk/daniel-tammet/)
*Embracing the Wide Sky* (2009) is a personal survey of current neuroscience and an exploration of his own abilities.[4](https://thuprai.com/author/daniel-tammet/) • [13](https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/articles/200911/interview-corner-numbers-guy) *Thinking in Numbers* (2012), his first essay collection, treats mathematics as part of human life, from the coinage of the word "googol" to the mathematics of mortality rates, and was a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week.[14](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/thinking-in-numbers-by-daniel-tammet-8142910.html) • [15](https://danieltammet.net/bibliography/) Later books include *Mishenka* (2016), a novel about a Soviet grandmaster; *Every Word Is a Bird We Teach to Sing* (2017), a collection of essays on language; *Portraits* (2018), which includes a supercentenarian Frenchwoman; *How to be 'Normal'* and the French-language *Fragments de paradis* (both 2020); and *Nine Minds* (2024).[1](https://danieltammet.net/bio/) • [15](https://danieltammet.net/bibliography/)
**Nine Minds.** His most recent book profiles nine neurodivergent men and women from around the world, including a [Fields Medal](https://www.edgepedia.org/fields-medal)-winning mathematician, a murder detective, an orthopedic surgeon, a bestselling novelist, and the actor [Dan Aykroyd](https://www.edgepedia.org/dan-aykroyd).[6](https://danieltammet.net/nine-minds/) • [16](https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/jul/12/nine-minds-by-daniel-tammet-review-a-new-language-for-neurodiversity) The Guardian's review described it as a celebration of the gifts and talents of autistic people that contradicts the assumption that autism and empathy cannot coexist.[16](https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/jul/12/nine-minds-by-daniel-tammet-review-a-new-language-for-neurodiversity) It was named among the Sydney Morning Herald Best Reads and the Waterstones Best Popular Science Books of 2024.[6](https://danieltammet.net/nine-minds/)
His books have been translated into thirty languages.[17](https://www.hodder.co.uk/contributor/daniel-tammet/) He became a Fellow of the [Royal Society of Arts](https://www.edgepedia.org/royal-society-of-arts) in 2012 and received an honorary doctorate from the Open University in 2023.[5](https://danieltammet.net/awards-and-recognition/)
## Scientific and public attention
Tammet is one of fewer than 50 autistic savants worldwide, by the estimate offered in a 2009 *Psychology Today* interview, and his case has drawn sustained scientific interest because, unlike most savants, he can describe how his mind works.[13](https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/articles/200911/interview-corner-numbers-guy) Around the time of the Icelandic documentary he was diagnosed with savant syndrome by [Simon Baron-Cohen](https://www.edgepedia.org/simon-baron-cohen), the Cambridge autism researcher.[11](https://danieltammet.net/reviews/) Professor Allan Snyder of the [Australian National University](https://www.edgepedia.org/australian-national-university) summarized his significance at the publication of *Born on a Blue Day*: "Savants can't usually tell us how they do what they do."[18](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/feb/14/embracing-the-wide-sky-review)
His abilities have also drawn skepticism. In *Moonwalking with Einstein* (2011), the memory journalist Joshua Foer suggested that Tammet's achievements could result from extensive deliberate practice rather than innate savant traits; a 2017 review in *Frontiers in Human Neuroscience* noted this debate and argued that examining mental strategy should be the central issue in cognitive studies of mental athletes.[19](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00287/full)
Tammet is the subject of the BAFTA-nominated television documentary *The Boy with the Incredible Brain* and the [BBC Radio 4](https://www.edgepedia.org/bbc-radio-4) documentary *Two Poets*, alongside the poet [Les Murray](https://www.edgepedia.org/les-murray), and is referenced in [Kate Bush](https://www.edgepedia.org/kate-bush)'s song "Pi".[20](https://danieltammet.net/) He delivered a TED talk, "Different Ways of Knowing," in 2011.[10](https://blogmush.co.uk/daniel-tammet/)
## Themes
A recurring theme in Tammet's writing is the neurodivergent experience. He has written that no tradition of autistic writing existed when he began, that some then considered "autistic author" a contradiction in terms, and that he had no models for what an autistic writer could be.[21](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/aug/25/daniel-tammet-why-autism-is-no-bar-to-becoming-a-bestselling-author) In *Nine Minds* he takes a deliberately affirmative approach, concentrating on what his subjects have achieved and their passions rather than their diagnoses.[6](https://danieltammet.net/nine-minds/)
## References
1. [Bio, Daniel Tammet official website](https://danieltammet.net/bio/)
2. [Biographical entry on Daniel Tammet (PDF)](https://primary.jwwb.nl/plugin-documents/e64fc6d07d039a160866524cb7f6f2b83af06ad4.pdf)
3. [Daniel Tammet: The man who can do 82 x 82 x 82 x 82, The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/profiles/daniel-tammet-the-man-who-can-do-82-x-82-x-82-x-82-6094695.html)
4. [Daniel Tammet, Profile and Works, Thuprai](https://thuprai.com/author/daniel-tammet/)
5. [Awards and recognition, Daniel Tammet official website](https://danieltammet.net/awards-and-recognition/)
6. [Nine Minds, Daniel Tammet official website](https://danieltammet.net/nine-minds/)
7. [Daniel Tammet, Official Publisher Page, Simon & Schuster](https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Daniel-Tammet/40401246)
8. [Daniel Tammet: Inside the mind of a staggering genius, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/daniel-tammet-inside-the-mind-of-a-staggering-genius-236845.html)
9. [Daniel Tammet interview: Wide sky thinking, The Scotsman](https://www.scotsman.com/news/daniel-tammet-interview-wide-sky-thinking-2466174)
10. [Daniel Tammet: Books, Pi Record & 10 Key Facts, Blogmush](https://blogmush.co.uk/daniel-tammet/)
11. [Reviews, Daniel Tammet official website](https://danieltammet.net/reviews/)
12. [Born on a Blue Day, Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/daniel-tammet/born-on-a-blue-day/)
13. [Interview Corner: Numbers Guy, Psychology Today](https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/articles/200911/interview-corner-numbers-guy)
14. [Thinking in Numbers, By Daniel Tammet, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/thinking-in-numbers-by-daniel-tammet-8142910.html)
15. [Bibliography, Daniel Tammet official website](https://danieltammet.net/bibliography/)
16. [Nine Minds by Daniel Tammet review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/jul/12/nine-minds-by-daniel-tammet-review-a-new-language-for-neurodiversity)
17. [Daniel Tammet, Hachette UK](https://www.hodder.co.uk/contributor/daniel-tammet/)
18. [Another slice of pi, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/feb/14/embracing-the-wide-sky-review)
19. [Dazzled by the Mystery of Mentalism, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00287/full)
20. [Daniel Tammet official website](https://danieltammet.net/)
21. [Daniel Tammet: why autism is no bar to becoming a bestselling author, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/aug/25/daniel-tammet-why-autism-is-no-bar-to-becoming-a-bestselling-author)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Literature and written works › Writers and literary biographies › Biographers, critics, and specialist non-fiction writers › Memoirists and autobiographers › Personal-life and confessional memoirists*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license