His Life, His Projects and Career

(John) Scott Flansburg was born in Herkimer, New York on December 28, 1963. He attended West Canada Valley Central School District in Newport, New York. He served in the U.S. Air Force (1982–1988) and had a tour of duty with the Office of Special Investigations in Tokyo, Japan. He then returned to the United States and became an advocate of teaching math in an innovative fashion. In 1989 he drew the attention of Mr. Regis Philbin. Mr. Philbin is the individual that is credited for naming Scott, "The Human Calculator" during his appearance on The Regis and Kathy Lee Show. In 1991 he began working on a project called Turn On the Human Calculator In You, a series of tapes that was subsequently on Mike Levy's Amazing Discoveries and then published by Media Arts of Reston, VA (1991). Turn On the Human Calculator In You was one of the most successful early infomercials touted as having in excess of 125 million viewings. The follow-up product was called Mega Math with Kevin Tredeau (1996) which added a video and workbook and was later published by Tru Vantage International of Niles IL.

He has subsequently appeared on countless television shows including Oprah, Ellen, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Good Morning America, Discovery Channel's 'More Than Human', and thousands of local radio and TV shows.

Scott is also a paid-motivational speaker. He is well known in the Phoenix area where has lived for over ten years (The Arizona Republic Mon Oct 4, 2004) where he developed his Theory of Nine concept and Human Calendar. The Human Calculator has given thousands of "gratis" appearances to elementary schools around the US. Scott is also an avid golfer. Scott presently earns a living from his various publishing activities and as a spokesman for companies like Qwest and Kraft Foods.