How to Become a Scientist — High School Years 93 



sity-bound students in one or two high schools. These nat- 

 urally offer a better opportunity to the future scientist than 

 do the majority of schools in the same town which cater 

 to other interests and capacities. 



It is not the purpose of these remarks to imply that the 

 old European system is better than the American. Actually 

 both have their virtues and defects and both are clearly the 

 results of important cultural differences that have grown 

 up on the two continents. The last few years have as a 

 matter of fact seen a healthy effort on both sides to learn 

 more about each other's systems and to combine the best 

 features of both. 



The point being made here is that the quality of second- 

 ary (and university) education in the United States varies 

 widely from place to place and from school to school. The 

 instruction offered by the Bronx High School of Science, 

 for example, has virtually nothing in common with a rural 

 high school in the deep South except for the names of a few 

 courses. 



Not long ago the magazine Science pubHshed the results 

 of an investigation of the geographical origins of scholars 

 and scientists in the United States. This showed that the 

 New England and Middle Atlantic states produced about 

 four times as many high school graduates per 1,000 who 

 went on to obtain a Ph.D. as did the Southern states. Indeed 

 they outproduced any other section of the country by over 

 50 percent.^ 



A social phenomenon such as this is of course diflScult 

 to explain with any assurance. No doubt many factors are 

 at play, but it seems very likely that at least one of the more 

 important factors is the amount and quality of primary and 

 secondary education available in various areas of the coun- 

 try. This does not mean that all or even a majority of the 

 schools on the East Coast are excellent or that there are 



