The Fourth "R" (also known as The Brain Machine) is a science fiction novel by American writer George O. Smith, first published in 1959. It is a science fictional examination of the genius naïf phenomenon. The plot follows a five-year-old boy named Jimmy Holden, who was given the equivalent of a college education by virtue of his parents' invention, an "Electromechanical Educator." In his review column for F&SF, Damon Knight selected the novel as one of the 10 best genre books of 1959.[1] R. D. Mullen reported that "Though it becomes tendentious and sentimental in its last chapters, [The Brain Machine] is up to that point a surprisingly good story of the difficulties of the superboy in a world run by stupid adults.
George Oliver Smith (April 9, 1911 – May 27, 1981) (also known by the pseudonym Wesley Long) was an American science fiction author. He is not to be confused with George H. Smith, another American science fiction author.