ABSTRACT
T H E words "talent" and "genius" have been used in so many different senses that it is necessary to preface this discussion by stating as clearly as possible the meaning that will be given them here. Sometimes the two terms are used almost interchangeably. Not a few authors have used talent to designate exceptional superiority in some rather specialized ability, as in music or art, and have reserved the term genius to designate a more general type of all-round intellectual superiority. More commonly, however, the word talent is employed to designate the less exceptional grades of genius. In this sense one could say that many persons are talented but few could be classed as geniuses. This is the sense in which we prefer to use the term.
