The Human Calculator - Rüdiger Gamm

Rüdiger Gamm -- "The Human Calculator" featured in The Real Superhumans and the Quest for the Future Fantastic:

Rüdiger Gamm of Welzheim, Germany, is The Human Calculator! At 35 years old, he can instantly solve complex mathematical formulas inside his head. Gamm can multiply higher powers and divide two prime numbers to 60 decimals -- 84 to the power of 17; 42 to the power of 100; 31 divided by 61. Gamm can also speak backwards -- both an entire sentence and each word within a sentence. He is also a calendar calculator and can determine within seconds the day of the week of any date in history. Professor Allan Snyder is an internationally acclaimed scientist and the Foundation Director of the world's only Centre For The Mind, a joint venture of the Australian National University and the University of Sydney. Snyder specializes in rare cases of people who suddenly develop extraordinary savant skills after receiving a brain injury. Snyder's theory is that Gamm's mysterious abilities can be explained quite simply: he believes Gamm is an autistic savant and has designed tests specifically for him. It's a diagnosis Gamm disagrees with and he sets out to prove Snyder wrong.

Portent: Gamm reveals that the human species is filled with incredible individuals that continue to baffle even the most learned of scientists. If we cannot even understand how one develops such abilities as Gamm's, are we really ready to reengineer our own species?