We define genius as the proven ability to produce artistic, scientific, or other intellectual work that is considered supremely valuable during or after the lifetime of the producer. Certain qualifications must be met in order to achieve recognition of the work done. The candidate for genius must produce, perform, discover, or invent something that is highly valued. If this work is too far ahead of its time, it will be ignored or derided; unless the work can be preserved to be appreciated later, recognition may never come.

The most favorable chance for recognition comes to those whose work relates in some significant way to the needs and spirit of their contemporaries while the producers are still living and can make their work public. Once the producer has died, even if he or she was highly acclaimed, the remaining work may go unpublished, as was the case with Leibniz.The work of those who die without reputation is usually lost to posterity.

the title of genius is not inalienable but varies over the years with the number and fervor of one's appreciators. William Hogarth, the eighteenth‐ century painter, thought that some of Michelangelo's work verged on the ridiculous, but Hogarth's Romantic successors worshipped the sculptor. Furthermore, one's reputation as a genius varies in longevity, depending on the field of endeavor. The philosopher and mathematician may wear their crowns for centuries: the actor is quickly forgotten, buried under changing styles. One's claim to genius also depends on the credibility of those who promote it.

Genius, therefore, is not an attribute: it is a dynamic relationship between

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