Two of the laureates are Swiss. This brings the total number of Swiss laureates to 28, making it the third country with most Nobel prizes per capita. The first two are Saint Lucia and Luxemburg, which have 180k and 600k inhabitants respectively. Among the bigger countries, Switzerland has the most per capita Nobel prizes. Interestingly, UK is on number 9 on that list and has a significantly bigger population than the…
It would probably be more fair to attribute the Nobel prize "nationality" to the university/country at which the scientist was working at the time they made their discovery.
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2019
21–30 of 108 posts
Re: The Nobel Prize in Physics 2019
#22Still cant believe the economics profession managed to convince people it deserves a seat at the table of the hard sciences
Re: The Nobel Prize in Physics 2019
#23Two of the laureates are Swiss. This brings the total number of Swiss laureates to 28, making it the third country with most Nobel prizes per capita. The first two are Saint Lucia and Luxemburg, which have 180k and 600k inhabitants respectively. Among the bigger countries, Switzerland has the most per capita Nobel prizes. Interestingly, UK is on number 9 on that list and has a significantly bigger population than the…
Re: The Nobel Prize in Physics 2019
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
And 20% of the laureates are Jewish, while Jewish population comprises less than 0.2% of the world's population https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jewish_Nobel_laureates
And 96% are men although men comprise only 49% of the population. Just saying...go men!
I wonder if there is a self-fulfilling prophecy about that. The 96% statistic hints that because men are traditionally associated with the hard sciences, men typically win the Nobel prizes. What percentage of senior scientists and researchers are women, I wonder, and does that percentage correspond with their representation at the Nobel prizes?
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkenazi_Jewish_intelligence
Re: The Nobel Prize in Physics 2019
#25Two of the laureates are Swiss. This brings the total number of Swiss laureates to 28, making it the third country with most Nobel prizes per capita. The first two are Saint Lucia and Luxemburg, which have 180k and 600k inhabitants respectively. Among the bigger countries, Switzerland has the most per capita Nobel prizes. Interestingly, UK is on number 9 on that list and has a significantly bigger population than the…
> One of the consequences of this practice is that nationality information is sometimes controversial or confusing. For example, Elizabeth Blackburn, who is also an Australian citizen but is listed in the Nobellists only as an American with an Australian birthplace. In the case of prizewinners who stood between several nations, such as the Alsatian-born Albert Schweitzer, for example, the indication of only one nationality is also perceived as insufficient or, depending on the point of view of the observer, wrong. Another reason for discrepancies are the numerous state changes in the 19th and 20th centuries. Some prizewinners, for example, mention the place of birth with the nationality of the time and today, while others mention only one of the two. An example of this is Günter Blobel, whose birthplace lies in Poland today but is listed as a place in Germany. Mother Teresa was born in Skopje, which then belonged to the Ottoman Empire and is now the capital of Northern Macedonia. However, her family was Albanian, which is why she is often seen as an Albanian. However, none of the three states is mentioned in the official list of notices, but the place of birth is shown as belonging to Turkey, presumably because this was already a common name for the Ottoman Empire before the foundation of the Turkish state. Her nationality is declared Indian because she was an Indian citizen at the time of the award.
> Since the Nobel Peace Prize has already been awarded several times to laureates who have worked towards a solution to a conflict over the nationality of a region, the indication of nationality already runs the risk of being regarded as tendentious. For example, when the 14th Dalai Lama Tendzin Gyatsho was awarded the nationality Tibet was declared, although this state only exists in the form of an exile government. In 1998 and 1976, the state received awards for its efforts to settle the conflict in Northern Ireland. Here the Nobel Institute chose Northern Ireland as its nationality, although this region was never an independent state and no party to the conflict sought to establish one. The Nobelstiftung, on the other hand, names the United Kingdom as its nationality after its current formal affiliation.
[1]: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobelpreis#Nationalit%C3%A4t_d...
Re: The Nobel Prize in Physics 2019
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
And 96% are men although men comprise only 49% of the population. Just saying...go men!
This is terribly enlightening. I'm an Ashkanazi Jew of average intelligence, but there seems to be some stigma that Jews - especially Ashkanazi [1] - are brilliant. I'm constantly judged by a very high standard because of that. Be there no mistake, I keep that standard, but due to Anki and Ankidroid and not due to my intellect. I wonder if there is a self-fulfilling prophecy about that. The 96% statistic hints that b…
Second, maybe jews are on the list because of that pressure put on them to succeed constantly. Would be interesting study.
Re: The Nobel Prize in Physics 2019
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
It would probably be more fair to attribute the Nobel prize "nationality" to the university/country at which the scientist was working at the time they made their discovery.
Why does anyone care about someone's nationality when they win a Nobel prize?
For instance, this prize tells you that Switzerland, the UK and the US (or more specifically Geneva, Cambridge and Princeton) seem to be doing something right and that it might be a good idea to change your university system a little in their direction.
Re: The Nobel Prize in Physics 2019
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
It would probably be more fair to attribute the Nobel prize "nationality" to the university/country at which the scientist was working at the time they made their discovery.
Why does anyone care about someone's nationality when they win a Nobel prize?
But yeah, I agree. One fun example:
I am Faroese. On a technicality, Faroe Islands _could_ be considered the highest rank, at 1 laureate for a population of 49,489[1].
Niels Finsen was born in the Faroe Islands to Icelandic and Danish parents. His higher education and scientific studies were conducted in Denmark.
So an ethnically Icelandic-Dane, Faroese-born, who studied in Denmark.
Does this count as a Faroese Nobel Laureate?
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Nobel_lau...
Re: The Nobel Prize in Physics 2019
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
It would probably be more fair to attribute the Nobel prize "nationality" to the university/country at which the scientist was working at the time they made their discovery.
Why does anyone care about someone's nationality when they win a Nobel prize?
german won nobel prize -> germans are smart -> im german -> i must be smart
Re: The Nobel Prize in Physics 2019
#30Two of the laureates are Swiss. This brings the total number of Swiss laureates to 28, making it the third country with most Nobel prizes per capita. The first two are Saint Lucia and Luxemburg, which have 180k and 600k inhabitants respectively. Among the bigger countries, Switzerland has the most per capita Nobel prizes. Interestingly, UK is on number 9 on that list and has a significantly bigger population than the…
Be wary of any "per-capita" statistics. Statistically, averages work only if distributions are symmetric. Mean is a poor indicator of an asymmetric distribution.
So, the question is - Do we have symmetric distributions for talent within each geographical area? We see similar arguments in sport but the assumption of symmetrical (normal) distributions for talent within a geographical area is most likely not the case [0]. There are many other factors like income, population density and "coaching" centers that lead to existence of asymmetric distributions. Hence, "per capita" statistics are quite meaningless and mask the real factors that contribute to Nobel Prize winners.
Primarily, the proportion of GDP to research and scientific activity are a better measure to compare countries against [1]. That ensures that most predictive factors are accounted for.
[0] https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.0274...