DISTRIBUTION OF AMERICAN GENIUS 189 



THE GEOGKAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF AMEEICAN 



GENIUS 



By De. SCOTT NEARING 



UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA 



THE last few years have witnessed a friendly controversy between the 

 champions of nature and the champions of nurture, over the forces 

 that are responsible for greatness. The nature advocates have insisted 

 upon the importance of heredity in shaping men's lives. The nurture 

 advocates have laid equal emphasis upon environment. Each of these 

 groups has relied upon New England as one proof of the contention. 



Both parties to the controversy are willing to admit that New Eng- 

 land has produced a considerable proportion of the great men of 

 America. Those scientists who throw emphasis on the importance of 

 heredity hold that New England, having made a contribution to the 

 number of distinguished men in the United States wholly out of propor- 

 tion to its population, stands as a substantial proof of the importance of 

 race qualities. Those scientists who adhere to the opposing view main- 

 tain with equal positiveness that the supremacy of New England has 

 long been exaggerated. There was no time, these men insist, at which 

 New England had an immense lead in the production of greatness over 

 the other sections of the country, if its percentage of population at that 

 time was taken into consideration. Furthermore, so the argument con- 

 tinues, the supremacy of New England in the production of distin- 

 guished men is being rapidly taken over by the middle west. It is in 

 that section that the leaders of the next generation are being born. 



The contention is, in its nature, both interesting and endless, unless 

 some facts can be obtained which will throw some light upon the ques- 

 tions at issue. These, I take it, are three : 



1. "Was there ever a time "when the number of distinguished men born in 

 New England was greater in proportion to its population than the proportion for 

 other sections of the United States? 



2. Has there been any change in the proportion of distinguished persons 

 contributed by New England? 



3. What contributions of distinguished persons are now being made by the 

 various sections of the United States? 



These questions can not be answered with certainty. The available 

 facts make unimpeachable conclusions impossible. Nevertheless, ap- 

 proximations may be made which should throw some light on the ques- 

 tions. 



The volume entitled "Who's Who in America" for 1912-13 contains 



