Remember Childhood Sweetheart Winnie Cooper From The Wonder Years? This Is What She Looks Like Now.

#1

If you grew up with Winnie Cooper from The Wonder Years, you'll be very surprised to find out how Danica McKellar turned out.

#2

Did she turn in to a struggling actress? No. Did she marry a rich man in Hollywood and just relax to the max? No. She kicked ass in the math world, that's what she did.

#3

This could be our favourite 'where are they now?' stories; Danica McKellar - the love interest of Kevin in The Wonder Years - left the hit TV show, felt a bit lost, and then went off to UCLA and discovered that she's a mathematics genius. She even has her own theorem: Percolation and Gibbs states multiplicity for ferromagnetic Ashkin-Teller.

#4

Yes, really.

We don't understand it either. Scroll down to watch her explain. Danica also writes educational books about maths.

#5

"When I was in the ninth grade, I remember studying geometry theorems and saying, ‘Wouldn't it be cool to have a theorem named after me?' and I had no idea that one day that would happen," Danica explains.

#6

It wasn't her original plan Danica meant to study film, but after she sailed to the top of a maths class she'd enrolled in she had a rethink.

Soon the actress was teaching other students maths, then came her truly big moment.

#7

"I had the opportunity to co-author a research paper," she recalled.

"We proved a new theorem... I discovered that I could be smart and capable and valuable for something that had nothing to do with Hollywood."

#8

Danica went to university to try to forge a new kind of life, but at first she couldn't escape The Wonder Years.

People would call her Winnie in the corridors and she thought it was all she'd ever be known for, which is why maths has come to mean so much to her.

These days she tries to get kids as excited by the topic as she is.

Helping her are the four books she's authored: Math Doesn't Suck, Kiss My Math, Hot X: Algebra Exposed and Girls Get Curves: Geometry Takes Shape.