Penelope
Diamond Member
- Jul 15, 2014
- 60,265
- 15,790
- 2,210
probably had more than anyone. Babylon invented writing, (Sumerian) , algebra, astronomy, division of time,
among many other things.
The real reason why Jews win so many Nobel prizes
Forget the genius genes or bookish culture hocus pocus. Jewish achievement in the sciences is a modern phenomenon, but the passions that drove it are now ebbing away.
By Noah Efron | Oct. 21, 2013 | 4:32 AM |
20
What bugs me about attributing the remarkable prominence of Jews among Nobel laureates to genes or enduring cultural traditions is that doing so suggests that Jewish success in science will inevitably continue as a matter of course. Most likely it won’t. The percentages of Jews among new American Ph.D.s in the sciences has declined greatly over the past generation. In Israel, spending on higher education has continued to decline during most of the same period; to many of the growing numbers in Israel who embrace religion, the appeal of science has nearly vanished. The passions that drew Jews to sciences in such great numbers have dissipated.
Maybe this was inevitable, maybe not. Either way, there is no good reason to expect that the remarkable contributions of Jews to science will continue for generations to come. Rather than celebrating the late ripening fruit of our parents’ and grandparents’ toil, each Nobel Prize is a chance to ponder whether we oughtn’t be planting afresh the too-often neglected fields they bequeathed us.
Röntgen rays, an achievement that earned him the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901
Alfred Nobel 1833-1896 (http://www.nobelprize.org/alfred_nobel/)
Nobel prizes were begun being given out in 1900.
https://explorable.com/islamic-astronomy
Babylonian mathematics - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia (read on)
among many other things.
The real reason why Jews win so many Nobel prizes
Forget the genius genes or bookish culture hocus pocus. Jewish achievement in the sciences is a modern phenomenon, but the passions that drove it are now ebbing away.
By Noah Efron | Oct. 21, 2013 | 4:32 AM |
What bugs me about attributing the remarkable prominence of Jews among Nobel laureates to genes or enduring cultural traditions is that doing so suggests that Jewish success in science will inevitably continue as a matter of course. Most likely it won’t. The percentages of Jews among new American Ph.D.s in the sciences has declined greatly over the past generation. In Israel, spending on higher education has continued to decline during most of the same period; to many of the growing numbers in Israel who embrace religion, the appeal of science has nearly vanished. The passions that drew Jews to sciences in such great numbers have dissipated.
Maybe this was inevitable, maybe not. Either way, there is no good reason to expect that the remarkable contributions of Jews to science will continue for generations to come. Rather than celebrating the late ripening fruit of our parents’ and grandparents’ toil, each Nobel Prize is a chance to ponder whether we oughtn’t be planting afresh the too-often neglected fields they bequeathed us.
Röntgen rays, an achievement that earned him the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901
Alfred Nobel 1833-1896 (http://www.nobelprize.org/alfred_nobel/)
Nobel prizes were begun being given out in 1900.
https://explorable.com/islamic-astronomy
Babylonian mathematics - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia (read on)