As we all know better than we’d like to admit, child prodigies often turn into, well, not the greatest adults. It’s probably something to do with our cannibalistic celebrity culture, but pre-teen fame has a way of leading to all kinds of disastrous behaviors in adulthood. Still, there are more than enough exceptions to prove the rule, as mental_floss points out with their listicle of 9 Child Prodigies Who Stayed Successful. Some are forgotten historical figures (like 18th century Italian math whiz Maria Agnesi), others, obvious superstars we remember best for their work as adults (Pablo Picasso), but we especially like the sound of this precocious mathematician Paul Erdös (1913-1996), seen at right, who eventually created a whole numerical system for rating friends and aquaintances based on their academic publishing histories. A man after our own hearts.