Mensa: British four year old almost 'as smart as Einstein and Hawking'

Four year old Heidi Hankins achieved a score of 159 IQ, a single IQ point below Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.

Mensa just accepted another member in its exclusive list of people with astonishingly high IQs, but what is so special about this new member is that not only does she a rank a point below the likes of Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking with a phenomenal score of 159, she is also just... four years old, Yahoo News reported on Saturday.

Winchester resident, Heidi Hankins is the newest member of United Kingdom's high IQ society.

"We always thought Heidi was pretty bright because she was reading early. I happen to specialise in measuring IQs in children and I was curious about her, and the results were off the scale," the little girl's father, Matthew Hankins, told the Hampshire Chronicle.

"I got her the complete set of the Oxford Reading Tree books when she was two, and she read through the whole set of 30 in about an hour. It's what you would expect a seven-year-old to do," he added.

Despite being a ‘genius’ of sorts, she is still a little girl, the father insists. Little Hankins can write complete sentences, performs arithmetic functions such as addition and subtraction, all before attending kindergarten.

"The thing is she's not precocious, she is just a little girl who likes her Barbies and Lego but then you will find her sitting down and reading a book. We are really proud of her."

Mensa, excited about the new member from Winchester, lauded the parents for correctly identifying her potential.

"Heidi's parents correctly identified that she shows great potential," said John Stevenage, chief executive of British Mensa. "We wish them well, and are pleased that they have chosen to join the Mensa network for support, where we aim to provide a positive environment for younger members to develop."

According to Mensa, the average adult IQ score is 100, that too for adults.

Heidi's parents are now looking into schools for their little girl, who still has time to formally enroll in first grade.

In 2009, Elise Tan Roberts from London was two when she joined Mensa with a score of 156 IQ.

Mensa uses the following list to determine the 'genius' potential within a child:

-An unusual memory

-Reading early

-Unusual hobbies or interests or an in-depth knowledge of certain   subjects

-An awareness of world events

-Asks questions all the time

-Developed sense of humour

-Musical

-Likes to be in control

-Makes up additional rules for games