JKR included on "Living Geniuses" list

Creators Synectics, a global consultants firm, chose their geniuses by awarding scores out of 10 to each entrant against a number of factors: paradigm shifting; popular acclaim; intellectual power; achievement and cultural importance. The firm emailed 4,000 Britons this summer and asked them to nominate up to 10 living people who they considered geniuses.

J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series has been included in the "Living Geniuses" list. The list compiled by Creators Cynectics listed Ms. Rowling at number 83. The list also includes such people as poet Seamus Heaney at 26, Sir Paul McCartney at 58 and David Bowie at 67.

There are 43 American geniuses on the list - one per 6.9 million people with Great Britain having 24 Britons on the list - one per 2.5 million people, a higher proportion than any other country.

Many people argue that a genius can be defined by their contribution, where it turns conventional thinking on its head.