Age dynamics in scientific creativity

Benjamin F. Jones and Bruce A. Weinberg
PNAS first published November 7, 2011 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1102895108

  1. Edited* by José A. Scheinkman, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, and approved October 7, 2011 (received for review April 5, 2011)

Abstract

Data on Nobel Laureates show that the age–creativity relationship varies substantially more over time than across fields. The age dynamics within fields closely mirror field-specific shifts in (i) training patterns and (ii) the prevalence of theoretical contributions. These dynamics are especially pronounced in physics and coincide with the emergence of quantum mechanics. Taken together, these findings show fundamental shifts in the life cycle of research productivity, inform theories of the age–creativity relationship, and provide observable predictors for the age at which great achievements are made.

Footnotes

  • ↵1B.F.J. and B.A.W. contributed equally to this work.

  • ↵2To whom correspondence may be addressed. E-mail: weinberg.27{at}osu.edu or bjones{at}kellogg.northwestern.edu.

  • Author contributions: B.F.J. and B.A.W. designed research, performed research, analyzed data, and wrote the paper.

  • The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  • ↵*This Direct Submission article had a prearranged editor.

  • Data deposition: The data reported in this paper have been deposited in the National Bureau of Economic Research database, http://www.nber.org/data/.

  • This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1102895108/-/DCSupplemental.

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Age dynamics in scientific creativity
Benjamin F. Jones, Bruce A. Weinberg
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Nov 2011, 201102895; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1102895108
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