University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Robert G. Fuller Publications and Presentations Research Papers in Physics and Astronomy May 1998 Nobel prize winners in physics from 1901 to 1990: Simple statistics for physics teachers Weijia Zhang Arizona State University Robert Fuller [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/physicsfuller Part of the Physics Commons Zhang, Weijia and Fuller, Robert, "Nobel prize winners in physics from 1901 to 1990: Simple statistics for physics teachers" (1998). Robert G. Fuller Publications and Presentations. 23. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/physicsfuller/23 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Research Papers in Physics and Astronomy at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Robert G. Fuller Publications and Presentations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Published in Physics Education, 33(3) (May 1998), pp. 196–203. Copyright © 1998 Institute of Physics/IOP Publishing. Used by permission. Nobel prize winners in physics from 1901 to 1990: Simple statistics for physics teachers Weijia Zhang Department of Physics and Astronomy, Arizona State University Robert G. Fuller Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Abstract: A demographic database for the 139 Nobel prize winners in physics from 1901 to 1990 has been created from a variety of sources. The results of our statistical study are dis- cussed in the light of the implications for physics teaching. The Nobel prize in physics, established in 1901 by es awarded to Nobel laureates [2]. The Nobel Alfred Nobel, aimed to reward “the person who laureates are among the most talented, successful shall have made the most important discovery or in- and fortunate scientists of thousands of researchers. vention in the domain of Physics” [1]. This centu- Besides public recognition for their contribution ry’s physics development is reflected by the priz- in the scientific domain, Nobel laureates can play 196 NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS IN PHYSICS FROM 1901 TO 1990 197 Figure 1. The nationality of laureates in different time periods from 1901 to 1990. very important roles in shaping science policy and Methods influencing science and technology education [3, 4]. Because of the history and influence of the No- We started our research by collecting data from bel prize, people are curious about the background, various sources [5–7] and setting up an electron- education and achievement of these laureates. For ic database. Our database includes the names of physics educators, the stories and anecdotes of No- the laureates, their award year(s), their nationali- bel laureates can add flavour to classroom lectures ties, countries where they were born and educat- and may stimulate students’ interest in learning the ed, marital status, religious preference, research principles and methods of physics. Although there field, etc. Data concerning field of research and reli- is abundant literature about Nobel laureates, demo- gion are more subjective and more difficult to judge graphic studies about Nobel prize winners in gener- than data concerning years and places. For laure- al and Nobel physics prize winners in particular are ates’ research fields we went through the Nobel lec- limited. In this paper, we systematically study the tures and made the best judgment about what major Nobel laureates in physics from 1901 to 1990. The work led to the award. We then compared the re- purpose of this study was threefold: firstly, to pro- search work presented in the lecture with the Phys- vide an overview of Nobel laureates in physics and ics and Astronomy Classification Scheme (PACS) present the data for educators to use in their teach- produced by the American Institute of Physics [8] ing; secondly, to provide some results that may be and assigned a code to it for further analysis. In significant enough for examination by those inter- the case of any uncertainty about how to classi- ested in the historical and social aspects of physics; fy a research work, we consulted with other phys- and thirdly, to present some implications related to icists and made a best judgment. The religious be- the current crisis in physics education. lief is an even harder determination. At this stage, 198 ZHANG & FULLER IN PHYSICS EDUCATION 33 (1998) Figure 2. Countries where laureates got their final degree. we used the data given in one source [5]. After set- erlands and France. Hence we can say that Europe ting up a database in a spreadsheet program, we an- was the centre of research and education in physics alysed the data and created some graphs to visual- before 1920. ize the results.* During the 1920s and 1930s, our data show that the centre of physics education and research began Results and analyses to shift from Europe to America. Many prizes went to physicists born and educated in the USA and those who immigrated to the USA. During this pe- Country of origin of laureates riod, 21% of the laureates were born and educated The nationalities of the prize winners and the coun- in the USA, and 42% had USA nationality. On the tries where the laureates received their final educa- other hand, 17% were German-born physicists but tion are shown in figures 1 and 2. only 8% had German nationality. Most laureates in Between 1901 and 1920, Europeans dominated this period were the elite that contributed dramat- physics research. All the laureates during this peri- ically to the developments of quantum mechanics od were born in Europe and all of them except A and atomic physics. A Michelson (the winner in 1907) were educated Award of the Nobel prize was halted from 1940 in Europe. Of the 23 laureates in this period, 32% to 1942 because of the Second World War (1939– were born and educated in Germany. Other coun- 1945). From 1943 to 1959, American physicists tries that produced the laureates were Britain, Neth- played the most important role in physics. Of 28 laureates in this period, 52% had American na- * The database is available as a Macintosh Excel file to those who are inter- tionality, including 30% USA-born physicists and ested in obtaining a copy. 22% immigrants. British physicists also had good NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS IN PHYSICS FROM 1901 TO 1990 199 performance during this period. Nineteen percent of laureates were British-born physicists and 15% had British nationality. For the first time, Russian physicists began to take the prize. The number of German-born laureates decreased to 15%, and the number of laureates that had German nationality decreased to only 4%. During the 1960s and 1970s, American phys- icists continued to dominate physics research. Of the 42 laureates* in this period, 57% had USA na- tionality. From 1981 to 1990, USA physicists re- ceived 60%, while German physicists got 16% of the physics prizes. Although there may be some political processes that affect the decision of the Nobel selection com- mittee [9, 10], the Nobel prizes probably reflect the strength of a nation’s science research in a particu- lar area and period. Therefore, we can see that ear- ly in this century Europe dominated physics educa- Figure 3. Distribution of award to laureates by age tion and research. During the 1920s and 1930s the group. United States began to catch up with Europe and surpass it in the latter half of this century. Einstein searchers’ publications span a large period of time [11] explained the success of scientific research in and there is also the factor of the lag between the the United States as follows: “I have warm admi- time of publication and the time when the work was ration for American institutes of scientific research. done. We leave this analysis for future investigation. We are unjust in attempting to ascribe the increas- ing superiority of American research work exclu- Religion and laureates sively to superior wealth; devotion, patience, a spir- There have been many times in history when dis- it of comradeship, and a talent for cooperation play coveries in physics conflicted with religion, espe- an important part in its success.” cially during the Middle Ages. The relation between science and religion has always been a sensitive and Ages and laureates somewhat subjective issue prone to discussion and It has been shown that, on average, physicists re- debate [13]. In this century, there have been some ceived the Nobel prize at an earlier age than re- great discoveries, like relativity, quantum mechan- searchers in other fields like chemistry or medicine, ics and the Big Bang theory, by Nobel laureates from 1901 to 1950 [12]. Our investigations show in physics which have affected humanity’s view that there is a wide distribution of awards to laure- about the nature and origin of the universe. There- ates of different ages (figure 3). fore, Nobel laureates in physics, as a group of peo- A physicist can never be too young (W L Bragg ple working at the frontier of physics, are a popula- got the prize at age 25) or too old (P L Kapitsa, age tion worth studying regarding the issue of religion 84) to get the highest prize in physics. It can be seen and science. from the figure that the great majority of the laure- Our statistics show that about 60% of the lau- ates got the prize between the ages of 35 and 65. reates had a Christian background. Twenty-four per The likelihood of winning a Nobel prize in phys- cent of the laureates had a Jewish background, and ics decreases sharply after a physicist reaches the 16% either had no affiliation or believed in other re- age of 65.