616 
fact that in the course of four years 
the states of Illinois and Wisconsin 
have increased their scientific men of 
standing by 27, while New York, New 
Jersey and Pennsylvania have lost 23, 
is significant not only of what has| 
happened but also of what is likely to 
happen in the course of the next two 
or three decades. As civilization moves 
westward, these great north central 
states may be for a time the chief 
scientific center of the country; and 
not only this, for it is quite possible 
that they may become the chief intel- 
lectual and artistic center of the world. 
THE DISTRIBUTION OF AMBER- 
ICAN MEN OF SOIENCE 
THE articles referred to contain a 
large mass of statistics in regard to 
the origin and distribution of our sci- 
entific men. The 238 men who have 
attained scientific standing within re- 
cent years fill the places left vacant by 
those who have died and of those who 
have failed to maintain their position 
among the thousand. Only one foreign 
man of science has come to this coun- 
try of such distinction that he would 
surely have deserved a place on the 
previous list, whereas ten have re- 
turned to their native countries. Six 
women have been added, and the total 
number of women on the list is 18, two 
of whom are among the second hun- 
dred. Those who have obtained places 
on the list are nearly all between 30 
and 45 years of age. There are none 
over 55; but one over 45 reaches a 
place as high as the fifth hundred. 
Only six are under 30, and this fact 
seems to indicate a lack of men of 
genius, who as a rule demonstrate 
their ability at an early age. 
Harvard has a dominant position in 
the education of these men and in re- 
taining them as instructors. It has 
given its bachelor’s degree to 20 and 
its doctor’s degree to 27, and 22 are 
on its teaching staff. Chicago stands 
next to Harvard, having an equal num- 
ber of doctors and having 13 of the 
men among its instructors. 


THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY . 
lows Harvard and Chicago both in re- 
gard to the men it has educated and 
the men it has retained. These three 
institutions are followed by the Johns 
Hopkins and Cornell in the number of 
degrees conferred and by Wisconsin 
and the Johns Hopkins in the number 
of instructors. The colleges of the 
eastern states have been less produc- 
tive of scientific men than the technical 
schools or the colleges of the state 
universities. 
There are 201 men still living who 
have failed to maintain their places 
among the thousand. Of these 49 re- 
_side in the state of New York. There, 
as in the other Atlantic states south of 
New England, the immense wealth ap- 
pears to be unfavorable to scientific 
research. ‘ 
The gain or loss of position of each 
man is known. Those under forty are 
likely to gain and those over this age 
are likely to lose. The average age of 
the 1,000 scientific men is 48 years; 
the average age of the first hundred is 
54.8 years. The average age for the 
bachelor degree is 22.2 years and for 
the doctorate of philosophy, 28.4 years. 
Three fourths of all our scientific 
men earn their living by teaching, 
about one tenth in the government 
service and about one twentieth by ap- 
plied science. There are only eleven 
scientific men of standing who may be 
classed as amateurs, whereas in Great 
Britain this class is responsible for a 
considerable part of the research work 
which is accomplished. 
Of our thousand leading scientific 
men 80 are at Harvard, 48 at Columbia 
and the same number at Chicago, 38 at 
Yale, 35 at Cornell, 34 at the Johns 
Hopkins and 30 at Wisconsin. One 
| half of all the instructors at Clark are 
among our leading men of science, 
whereas in certain institutions there is 
but one in fifty. The institutions 
which stand the highest are Clark, the 
Johns Hopkins, Chicago, Stanford, 
Bryn Mawr, Harvard, Wesleyan, Case 
and Princeton. ‘These - institutions 
Yale fol- | have at least one scientific man of 
