Albert Einstein once commented that “a person who
has not made his great contribution to science
before the age of 30 will never do so.” ---- Now,
scientists are making Nobel-worthy discoveries at
more advanced ages than in the past. Benjamin
Jones, an expert in innovation at the Kellogg School
of Management at Northwestern University and
Bruce Weinberg of the Ohio State University
analyzed 525 Nobel Prizes awarded in physics,
chemistry and medicine between 1900 and 2008.
With few exceptions – notably quantum mechanics
discoveries of the 1920s and 1930s – the trend
across all fields is toward researchers being older
when they produce their greatest work.