706 



SCIENCE, 



[N. S. Vol. XXIV. No. 622. 



The figures also show that the average dif- 

 ferences between the chemists who are in the 

 first tenth are about eight times as great as 

 between the chemists towards the middle of 

 the list and about twelve times as great as 

 between the chemists towards the bottom of 

 the list. 



As has been stated, there are considerable 

 variations in the figures for the different sci- 

 ences. In general, however, those in the first 

 hundred differ from each other about ten 

 times as much as those in the last four hun- 

 dred, among whom there are no constant dif- 

 ferences. It is scarcely safe to draw infer- 

 ences from the variations in the different 

 groups and in the different sciences. If the 

 probable errors in one science were consist- 

 ently higher than in another, it would mean 

 that in the former science it is more difficult 

 to make the arrangement, which might be due 

 to greater diversity in the work to be com- 

 pared or to greater similarity in the men. 

 The greater similarity in the men would prob- 

 ably be due to there having been relatively 

 too many men included in that science. But 

 such consistent differences do not appear. 

 Thus the psychologists have the largest prob- 

 able error in the last group, but the smallest 

 in the third group, and the mathematicians 

 have the second smallest probable error in the 

 last group, but the second largest in the first 

 group. In so far as these figures are signifi- 



cant, they might mean that our able psycholo- 

 gists are more able than our able mathemati- 

 cians, whereas our lesser psychologists are less 

 able than our lesser mathematicians. It is 

 probably true that our leading psychologists 

 would compare more favorably with those of 

 Germany, France and Great Britain than our 

 leading mathematicians, but inferences as to 

 the variation in the distribution of ability in 

 the different sciences can not be made from 

 the data at hand with any considerable degree 

 of validity. It would, however, be of interest 

 to have comparable data for different nations 

 and for different periods. 



The workers in the twelve sciences have 

 been combined into one series by interpola- 

 tion, it being assumed that the range of ability 

 in each science is the same. The probable 

 errors have at the same time been increased to 

 correspond with a thousand cases, as shown in 

 table III. This makes the probable errors 

 relatively correct, but does not allow for the 

 additional chance variations caused by the 

 interpolation. The list is of considerable in- 

 terest, as it enables us to compare with more 

 or less accuracy men of science working in 

 diverse directions. 



The order, grades and probable errors of 

 the fifty who stand first are given to illustrate 

 the method. We can thus say that the work 

 of a certain physicist is equal in value to the 

 work of a certain zoologist, or that a certain 



TABLE IV. THE OKDEK, THE SCIENCE, THE GRADE AND THE PROBABLE ERROR OF EACH OF THE FIRST 



FIFTY MEN OF SCIENCE ON THE LIST. 



