ABSTRACT
Several studies have looked at psychopathology among creative artists well below the genius level, but nevertheless acknowledged among other artists and critics as being creative at a high level. McNeil studied the occurrence of mental illness in highly creative adopted children and their biological parents, discovering that the mental illness rates in the adoptees and in their biological parents were positively and significantly related to the creativity level of the adoptees. Genius declares himself by the production of highly creative work, acknowledged as by posterity, and usually even by contemporary opinion, even if recognition is not immediate. Francis Galton grades eminence in terms of a normal Gaussian curve, with capital letters denoting groups above the mean, and small letters denoting groups below the mean, the highest denoting the most eminent or genius group. But Galton also recognized and indeed emphasized natural ability as the major source of genius, and hence of reputation.
