Bethel Math Whiz (Kid) Seeks to Break World Record in Math, Raise Money for Library

Twelve year old Ethan Brown, who calls himself a mathemagician, wowed a crowd of business networkers at the Daily Fare, located in the train station, on Tuesday morning. Brown asked everyone to take out their calculators, and told everyone he would supply a number pi-ed. He then asked for a two digit number. One woman called out, “27,” and immediately, well before the audience could multiply 27 by 27, Brown asked, “Did everyone get 729?”

 The audience gasped.

 Brown then asked for a three digit number, and someone called out, “785.” Again, instantly, Brown said, “Did you all get 616,225?”

 When he asked the group how many numbers of Pi they could remember, most said three. Brown said his goal is to memorize 2000 numbers of Tau, which is twice pi, to raise money for the Bethel Public Library. If he succeeds, he will break the World Record.

 Brown has performed at the Chicago Toy and Game Fair, in St Louis, Concord, New Hampshire, the World Science Fair in New York City, and many more. He was recently featured on a local Fox program, Northeast Living, and at the Bethel Board of Education meeting on Thursday night, he was presented with the Nicholas Green Distinguished Scolarship Award from the National Association of Gifted Children, which he won, coming in first in the state.

 What was it like raising this “mathemagician”? “He made up a whole other language before he could speak,” his mother Rachel Brown said. Ethan added, “She had to make a dictionary for the babysitter.”

 His talents were obvious right from the start. By two years of age, he knew the alphabets of four languages, including English, Hebrew, Russian, and Greek. He could count to ten in ten languages, his mother said.

 “He was doing algebra at six years old on his Magna Doodle,” Rachel said, in reference to a toy that is like the old slate pads where one writes, lifts the page, and can start again on a clean slate.

 The Brown family moved to Bethel in 1998, and Ethan was born here. Upon entering school, Ethan didn't convince his first grade teacher that his math skills were anything special. However, in second grade, he was tested to see if he was eligible for accellerated math, and he passed the exam. In second grade, he was moved up to a fourth grade level, and now in seventh grade, he is working on a ninth grade level.

 Ethan's event, Tau 2000, will be his Bar Mitzvah community service project. The proceeds will support the Bethel Public Library. There will be other magic shows, Kenken contests (like Sudoku), and a visit from Dezrah the Strange, who will demonstrate difficult tricks and more.

 Tau 2000 will take place at the municipal center on May 6, from 1pm to 4 pm. First Selectman Matthew Knickerbocker will keep track of the recitation.

 To learn more about Ethan and his amazing math abilities, and to learn more about this event, visit his website, www.Tau2000.com