science that inspires their son. Still, they go to great lengths to satisfy their son’s nearly insatiable curiosity.
For example, finding that his local high school was not going to meet Wilson’s educational needs (and secondarily, that of their younger son, Joey), the Wilsons move the family to Reno, NV, to enroll the boys at the Davidson Academy, a school for gifted students who score in the 99.9 percentile in academic tests. Dubbed by Clynes as a “Hogwarts for brainiacs,” the academy was founded by Bob Davidson, an edtech company founder, and his wife, Jan.
This is where “The Boy Who Played With Fusion” delves into a more academic discussion on gifted children, how the U.S. education system is failing them, and illustrations of a few efforts to remedy that.
While I understand that this information helps to put Wilson’s story in context, I felt like we could do that with fewer pages devoted to the discussion. What I found more compelling was the family dynamic between Wilson and his parents, and especially, his younger brother. The tension between Taylor and Joey—who is also academically gifted but whose gifts seemed to come in second in terms of support—was hinted at many times in the book, but to me never really fully explored.
And that’s largely my only quibble with the book. There is so much unexplored human drama within the Wilson family. Maybe the Wilsons or their younger son didn’t want to talk about it, but I felt like a key part, perhaps a downside in an otherwise optimistic story, was untold.
After graduating from Davidson, Taylor received a Thiel Fellowship in 2012, a distinction that came with $100,000 in prize money and the ear of investors eager to know more about Taylor’s ideas. (The two-year fellowship, founded by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, encourages students to forgo college and instead pursue innovative projects.)
Wilson is now 22, tinkering in the lab and doing a lot of “nuclear tourism,” Clynes said in an e-mail to me last week. In between, the author says Wilson is talking with Hollywood producers about an as-of-now undefined television show and continuing with his public speaking on promoting the pursuit of science.
