Sidis Archives

William James Sidis, (pr. SIGH-dis) the world-famous child prodigy said to have been a "prodigious failure," actually wrote many books and articles under pseudonyms.

His general theory of the phenomena of the universe based on the theory of logical probability, The Animate and the Inanimate, is online here. Recent discoveries by the Hubble Space Telescope and other NASA and EU satellites suggest the correctness of his theory that "Big Bang" is wrong. Sidis argues that it is far more likely the universe is infinite and eternal.

His 100,000-year history of North America, The Tribes and the States, is as revolutionary as his cosmology. Sidis had learned the language of the wampum (written Native-American history), and then later used wampum belts as sources for the first part of this magnificent book.

The W. J. Sidis Archive presents here all of his writings found so far: five books, four pamphlets, 13 articles, four periodicals (36 issues), 89 weekly magazine columns, selected letters, financial documents, and one wonderful invention. There is also an archive of biographical material including Dan Mahony's interweave of an annotated bibliography of Sidis's writings with one of news articles about him during his lifetime. There are also many research links.

The Boris Sidis Archive presents here 15 books, 40 articles, 22 reviews of his works, and, we assume, all known biographical material.

Click an empty space on this page and use your mouse-wheel to scroll all the way down.

Boris Sidis Archive
"He was of a retiring nature, and his absorption in his work
and a bluntness springing from his intellectual honesty and independence,
prevented his obtaining the following and recognition his distinction and originality deserved."

Books by W. J. Sidis
Click images or to read / save / print all of his works found to date―complete online here.
Text size can be adjusted in 'View' window. Click empty space on page and use mouse-wheel to scroll down.

A General Theory of the Phenomena of the Universe Based on the Theory of Probability
"Among the physical laws it is a general characteristic that there is reversibility in time; that is, should the whole universe trace back the various positions that bodies in it have passed through in a given interval of time, but in the reverse order to that in which these positions actually occurred, then the universe, in this imaginary case, would still obey the same laws."
He has shown that the "Big-Bang" theory is wrong. The universe is infinite and eternal; it did not begin at some time, and will not end at some other time; it has no border at some place, and no other border at some other place.―Dan Mahony

100,000-Year History of North America
"The weaving of wampum belts was a sort of writing by means of belts of colored beads, in which the various designs of beads denoted different ideas according to a definitely accepted system, which could be read by anyone acquainted with wampum language, irrespective of what the spoken language was. Records and treaties were kept in this manner, and individuals could write letters to one another in this way."

A book for young and old published when he was eighteen. Includes Native American history, Passaconaway's superhuman powers, details of White Mountain treks, and poetry by John Greenleaf Whittier.

The media industry, believing that this was his only book, proclaimed it evidence that Sidis had "burned out." But why would a great genius write such a book? Here's why: Notes on the Collection of Transfers is taxonomy Aristotelian in scope. He collected the transfers while riding trolley cars in many cities researching American history at the local level.

"The advocacy of the universal use of one-way streets is the most fundamental suggestion embodied in this book." "The numbers of people injured and killed by motor vehicles are said to be at rates which approximate the losses of a major war." Includes a design for a Super-City. This is another taxonomy Aristotelian in scope.

Re Two More Books
Dr. Sperling's letter mentions a book on philology, and another on anthropology. Elsewhere Sperling wrote: "What the journalists did not report, and perhaps did not know, was that during all the years of his obscure employments he was writing original treatises on history, government, economics and political affairs. In a visit to his mother's home I was permitted to see the contents of a trunkful of original manuscript material that Bill Sidis composed (Psychology for the Millions)."

Re Three guides to the local transportation systems of Boston and the District of Columbia. "Several volumes, including two for the Boston area and one for the District of Columbia, are now ready to go to the printer, and several more are almost ready."

"Unfortunately, too many Americans consider the search for liberty as at an end, as if it had been secured and made safe for all time by the founding fathers." Compilation of little known American history in the form of poetry by John Greenleaf Whittier, Thomas Paine, John Boyle O'Reilly, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Stephen Foster, Lydia Sigourney, and Sidis himself.

GEPRODIS
"...a new type of organization...a non-profit membership corporation...a federation of its employees."

Conscientious Objector Writings, 1939-1943
"absolutism, n. the acceptance of or belief in absolute principles in political, philosophical, ethical, or theological matters; absolutist n. & adj. (Oxford Dictionary)."

Unconscious Intelligence
Argument against Freudian theory of the Unconscious...

The Modern Gray Champion
Mysterious figure in American history, first described by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Sidis makes a quite mysterious and uncharacteristic statement:"...he made his final disappearance, leaving this earth on July 25, 1938."

A Remark on the Occurrence of Revolutions
Notes correlation of sunspot cycles and political revolutions...

"Railroading" in the Past (ca.1940)
His own account of having been "kidnapped by his parents, by arrangement with the district attorney," as a result of guilty verdict for participation in an anti-draft demonstration in 1919.

Translation of "An Appeal to the Workers of the Allies" by G. Chicherin (ca. 1919)

Grammar o th'American Lingo
"This is the first time a grammar o th'American lingo's been attempted in a way as would put American on an equal basis with regular recognized lingoes."

The Peridromophile
"The Peridromophile is a paper issued primarily for the benefit of the followers of the hobby of transfer and token collection, and who consequently, from that point of view, have an interest in matters relating to local transit all over America. This paper was taken over by Geprodis System on October 16 last [1929], the paper itself having been operated since September, 1926."―Geprodis. No copies found―yet.

Personal Address Book
More Than A Hundred Friends and Acquaintances in 16 States, 45 Cities

"Where are They Now?" The New Yorker (1937)
The unkind and untruthful article that led to a US Supreme Court decision cited even today in celebrity cases. Oddly, it is here the word Okamakammessets appears in print for the first time.

US Appeals Court Decision re Sidis vs. The New Yorker (1941)
"The intimate details of private life are not entitled to an absolute immunity from the prying of the press, and a limited scrutiny may be had of the private life of any person who has achieved, or has had thrust upon him, the questionable and indefinable status of a 'public figure'."—Chief Justice Brandeis

"Railroading' in the Past" by W. J. Sidis (ca.1940)
His own account of having been "kidnapped by his parents, by arrangement with the district attorney," as a result of guilty verdict for participation in an anti-draft demonstration in 1919.

"Prodigious Failure" TIME, July 31, 1944. This magazine actually entitled an obituary of a person this way. We provide here documented refutation the many errors in newspapers and magazines.―Dan Mahony

""In Search of the April Fool" by Cathy Spence (1987)
The first national magazine article to tell the truth about Sidis.

Robert Pirsig on Sidis (1991)
"American Indian mysticism is not something alien from American culture. It's a deep submerged hidden root of it."

"The Failure Myth" by Dan Mahony (1999)

"Much research shows that child prodigies go on to lead productive lives―as did Sidis."

quantonics.com for additional Sidis material and comment.
"Sidis will be known to all school children of Earth's future, given efforts of a few on his behalf now (Doug Renselle)."

Volunteers needed to translate The Tribes and the States and The Animate and the Inanimate into Spanish and Mandarin.

Your comment, question, suggestion, or report of typos are welcome. Email dan at sidis dot net.

Contributors to the Sidis Project (1976-1999) Dan Mahony (Site Admin.), Sara Zarem, Ella Maezel, Helena Sidis, Martin Dworkin, Maria Taranto, Grace Spinelli, Jim Bernstein, Issac 'Rab' Rabinowitz, Anne H. Feinzig, Robin Lagemann, Slow Turtle, Wampanoag Cultural Center, Tom Reilly, Doc Humes, Larry Nobile, Robert Bearce, Andrew Bearce, Eliot Sagall, Tom Mahony, Diana Segara, Devin Mahony, Amy Wallace