Dr. RIchard Nisbitt, a a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, argues in his recent book, Intelligence and How to Get It, that what we think of as intelligence owes little or nothing to genetics.

Perhaps the larger lesson is a very empowering one: success depends less on intellectual endowment than on perseverance and drive. As Professor Nisbett puts it, "Intelligence and academic achievement are very much under people's control."