Dr. Charles (Charlie) Eppes
Charlie, who is probably born in 1975 or so, is discovered to be an exceptional child very young, excelling in mathematics but a bad speller. He takes piano lessons as a child, but manages to talk his parents into letting him stop if instead he is allowed to make his own instruments. He has a childhood friend named Jessica Cartman and asked Michelle Robinson to a dance when he was in the 7th grade. She turned him down. He has lived in the Craftsman home "pretty much my whole life", a house he will buy from Alan and pash cash for in early 2005.
According to Alan, he is three when he starts multiplying four digit numbers in his head. From that point on he requires special teachers and tutors who can keep up with him. By the age of thirteen Charlie has graduated high school, on the same day and from the same school as Don, who is five years older. Charlie does not have a good high school experience, noting it is difficult to be Don's "genius" younger brother.
After high school Charlie travels east and attends Princeton; his mother accompanying him on the trip. While at Princeton, he writes his first mathematics paper for the American Journal of Mathematics. At fourteen he is the youngest person to ever publish and has been awarded the Milton Prize. Charlie has admitted he had a hard time fitting in his freshman year at college.
While at Princeton, Charlie meets and takes classes from Larry Flienhardt who becomes Charlie's mentor; as of late 2006, the two have known each other for fifteen years. their friendship is tested when Charlie refuses to accept Larry will be leaving CalSci for a six month mission to the International Space Station.
After graduating from Princeton at the age of sixteen, Charlie moves back to California and attends CalSci.
Charlie's greatest mathematics work through 2005 is the Eppes Convergence, a concept that takes five years to complete. Though a flaw is discovered by a fellow mathematician named Marshall Penfield, he does resolve the flaw, naming the addition the Penfield Variation. His current math project is titled "Cognitive Emergence Theory", which has taken up most of the space in the garage to the point Charlie is now working in other areas of the house.
Charlie has done seminars in his field including one on P vs NP and has at least one more paper published regarding H Infinity Control of Non-Linear Systems. He is a tenured Professor of Mathematics at CalSci, where he is a popular teacher though he has been told he is disorganized and he talks too fast. While working at CalSci he has participated in projects for video enhancement and FISH. He has also consulted on a paleotology project once and has guest lectured at other area colleges including Huntington Tech; he also has a standing invitation to lecture at Cambridge.
Charlie believes it's his duty to develop mathematical tools, and someone else's to use them wisely. He does not accept the idea of psychic ability stating there has never been a provable instance of such a gift.
Charlie is ordered to chair the PhD addmissions committee at CalSci by his new Division Chair, Dr Mildred Finch. Charlie tries to refuse claiming he doesn't have time, but Finch is adament. She also wants Charlie to spend more time working with CalSci staff and less time working on FBI cases for Don.
Charlie holds a clearance of the highest level, and has consulted for NSA and other federal branches. His consulting included vector analysis and code breaking work.
He starts doing simple jobs for his brother Don probably starting in early 2004, working on fraud and banking cases using a talent to remember numbers on those cases. Through his work with Don he fires a gun for the first time in early 2005. He never believed in guns before but is forced to test fire a rifle for a ballistics calculation.
Charlie does not handle his mother's death well. He spends the last three months of her life working on P vs NP as a distraction from a situation he could not control. Don doesn't understand Charlie's obsession with a math problem while Margaret is ill and Alan admits to Charlie he doesn't understand either; he reassures Charlie however that Margaret did understand. In mid 2006, Charlie has his first dream involving his mother. He is feeling guilt/regret over how much time she spent with him growing up, during the dream Margaret reassures Charlie she did what any parent would do for her child. She also informs Charlie that he is more like Alan in that he has a clear idea of what he wants from life.
Charlie is not involved with anyone seriously as of 2006. He has a previous relationship with Susan Berry whom he lived with for nearly two years when he was twenty-one.He has gone on a few dates with Amita since she received her Computer Science PhD, but they do not go very well. In mid 2006, Charlie tries to get more serious with Amita only to discover she has an offer to teach at Harvard. In late 2006, Amita informs Charlie she has accepted an offer by CalSci to teach and she will remain in California. She and Charlie decide to see if they can make a relationship work, though Charlie soon has doubts. He wonders if she gave up a great opportunity to stay in California with him and isn't sure what he wants; he knows he tends to give up on things he doesn't learn easily.
Charlie does receive a note from a secret admirer, still unknown, who likes him for his mind ... and hair. He also receives a proposition from an older woman while he is at Princeton inviting him to a bed and breakfast. His mother has to break the news to his would-be admirer about his age.
Charlie does not have a driver's license in 2004, he loses it speeding. In the Fall of 2005 he does get a new learner's permit and by late 2005 has his driver's license again. He does not know how to drive a standard transmission and has no desire to learn. In late 2006, he is driving a Toyota Prius license number: 5MSY015.
Charlie and Don are still working on rebuilding their relationship together. Charlie is more accepted in Don's life now than when they were growing up and has played poker with Don and some of his FBI buddies where he cleans them out. (He has never played before except once with Alan for bottle caps and the pink slip to the car.) He has also taught Don how to count cards.
Charlie admits to Alan that he is worried about balancing his life, he is afraid he will be alone like Larry as he gets older noting there aren't many role-models he can look to in his field for a stable family life and a successful career. (Courtesy of Redhawke.org.)
Ah, the Beauty...