I always wished there was a way to "see" numbers. And it turns out there are people who do! 20/20s "7 Wonders of the World" introduced Daniel Tammet as one of the seven. Tammet is a bestselling author with high-functioning autistic savant syndrome, a developmental disorder that is outset by brilliance. Tammet also has synesthesia, in which several sensors in the brain communicate with each other giving ordinary things such as numbers and language more depth and characteristics.
One of Tammet abilities is to "visualize" positive integers up to 10,000 through color, shape, texture and even feel. He holds the European record for reciting the first 22,514 digits in Pi after only looking at the number Pi once! After a little more than 5 straight hours of reciting the digits, he explained to his audience that as he memorized the numbers, he was forming a field of colors and dimensions. The same concept is applied in mathematical calculations.
Tammet also speaks more than 10 languages. A documentary film producer challenged his ability to learn languages extremely quickly, by daring him to learn Icelandic, one of the toughest languages in the world, in one week. By the end of the week, he was interviewed by a local channel, and was able to speak fluently! He's also making up his own language, Mänti.
In conclusion, I envy his gift. Engineering would have been much funner with his brain.
