- Seva Bardin

Experts studied the history of "large breakthroughs" of several generations of Nobel laureates, great inventors and representatives of the world of art, and calculated the most fruitful age for each of these groups.

At 21, the former soloist of the LCD SoundSystem group James Murphy made what he himself called the "biggest mistake of his life" - refused to work as a scenario over Sinfelf's Sitkom, which was about to start.

Instead, he began to worse without a special case, having worked as a bouncer, later settled by DJ, and, in the end, by 35 years he released the first LCD SoundSystem album.

Murphy by this time was older than most of his colleagues-musicians, however the situation when the "big breakthrough" in the life of a creative person occurs in a mature age, not at all uncommon. Specialists of the National Bureau of Economic Analysis came to this conclusion.

The authors of the study collected data on which periods of life there are peaks of a career of great inventors and laureates of the Nobel Prize and found out that it most often happens by the end of the third decade:

The graph shows the frequency of discoveries performed by Nobel laureates and great inventors in one or another age for the 20th century. The creative activity of the Nobel laureates is marked by a solid blue line, great inventors - the red dotted line

As you can see from the following graph, with the time of the invention are made by people slightly more than mature age:

In addition, among distinguished in purely theoretical scientific disciplines (physics), there are more young people than among those who succeeded in applied areas (medicine). In the course of the 1977 study, it turned out that the average age of the future Nobelian laureates of physicists, when they only were taken for the commission of their great discoveries, was equal to 36 years. Chemicals have this middle age for 39 years, and at doctors of medicine - 41 years.

So why does the "big breakthrough" tend to occur at 40? The most obvious factor is education. On average, academic degrees receive years in 30. Then several years goes to training in the workplace and voila! At the same time, among people of science, large breakthroughs in old age are less frequent, because over time we are increasingly investing in education, and our academic scientific knowledge is gradually becoming less relevant.

At the same time, humanity has all the evidence that the genius with age does not become less. A huge number of poetic masterpieces were written when their authors have already exceeded 50. And the best canvas of the fields Cezanna, for example, were written in the last years of his life (Cezanne died in 69 years).

The scientific report of the National Bureau of Economic Analysis states that scientists are theoretics (those who solve the tasks associated with the search for new thinking) reach the peak before the experimenters (seekers of answers to questions, based on existing knowledge) by about 4.6 years.

Horizontally - age, vertical - frequency of significant discoveries: until 1935, from 1935 to 1965, after 1965

This happens for two reasons:

1) Theoretics do not need to wait for a huge number of experiments to finish and publish their works.

2) Probably more importantly, the "fresh look" allows young people to see emptiness and foes that exist in their scientific sphere that more experienced specialists are no longer noticed.

The graph of the most creative activity in theorists (solid line) and experimenters (dottedier) among Nobel laureates. Horizontally - age, vertical - the frequency with which the discovery of one or another age

"The most important conceptual works usually require distraction from already existing paradigms. It is best to manage to people who only enter into a new area for them, those who have not yet managed to completely assimilate in it. "

That is, apparently, genius is the ability of an experienced mind to look at the problem of fresh look.

One of the greatest physicists of modernity Stephen Hawking died on March 14, 2018 for 77 years of life. During the discussion of scientific works of English physics in a scientist, it is often possible to hear the comparison of Stephen Hawking with Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton. What kind of scientific discoveries did such a flattering comparison deserve a talented researcher specializing in the study of the Universe?

Family scientists

It will not be an exaggeration to say that the fate itself has prepared Stephen Hawking a scientist career. A future outstanding physicist was born on January 8, 1942 in the family of a successful scientist specializing in medical research. It is not surprising that the boy's father wanted the Son to go to his footsteps, continuing a family business. But young Stephen since childhood was more interested in mathematics, physics and astronomy. The boy passionately wanted to know how the universe actually works. We must pay tribute to Father Stephen Hawking. Seeing the passion for the Son technique, he did not break him fate, insisting that he studied medicine. Instead, he could encouraged his classes in mathematics. And his expectations were justified. The son not only succeeded in the exact sciences, receiving the title of professor Oxford, its discoveries in the field of physics entered the Golden Foundation of Modern Science. True, at the age of 20 years, a young man was discovered amyotrophic side sclerosis, which over time turned the scientist in the disabled person chained to the wheelchair. Nevertheless, despite a serious illness, Stephen Hawking stubbornly continued to make one scientific discovery after another.

"Theory of Total"

Exploring the peculiarities of the origin and development of the Universe, Stephen Hawking committed almost the most important discovery in the field of modern astrophysics. With the help of Albert Einstein equations, written for the general theory of relativity, Stephen Hawking first in the world managed to mathematically describe the state of the universe at the time of her birth. In fact, the English scientist proved that the universe was started. True, in this case the question arises that existed before her birth. Unfortunately, Stephen Hawking did not have time to answer this question. Nevertheless, based on the study of the most complex scientific disciplines, quantum mechanics and quantum gravity, a talented physicist tried to do the impossible - to create "the theory of everything".

Look into a black hole

The second scientific opening of the world-class made by Stephen Hawking at the end of the 20th century, was associated with the vital activity of the Black Holes of the Universe. Before the emergence of the theoretical calculations, Stephen Hawking was believed that black holes irrevocably absorb absolutely "everything" - from matter to different types of energy - and there are no event horizon. This statement was refuted by the scientific works of Stephen Hawking, in which the physicist unequivocally proved that black holes are capable not only to absorb, but also radiating various types of elementary particles, as well as information flows due to quantum processes occurring inside them.

Fashion writer

In a particular merit, its active life position on the popularization of science is put in a particular merit of Stephen Hawk. A rare scientist, with a head submerged in the most complex studies in the field of quantum physics, astronomy and mathematicians, is able to intelligibly explain the subject of its study by the usual one. Stephen Hawking managed to do this by writing 14 scientific and popular books for his life, which were separated by millions of editions. But the most demanded from the reader became his essay "Brief history of time", released in 1988. In the book, the scientist tried an accessible language to tell his readers about what space and time, black holes, as new galaxies appear when it was born and after what time the universe would die. The work turned out to be so entertaining that he was fascinating than any detective. Subsequently, together with his daughter, Lucy Stephen Hawking created a book-like book, adapting it for young children. Exclusively thanks to Stephen Hawking, the kids of the whole world were able to learn how the world was actually arranged in which they live.

Science - severe and not always grateful occupation. For many years of experiments may not lead to a tangible result, potentially important studies often do not receive the necessary funding, and history forgets the names of people who put the hand to great discoveries. Look At Me gathered eight scientists who helped in work on important discoveries - and sometimes they committed them alone, but were forgotten.

Rosalind Franklin

helped open the structure of the DNA molecule

If you know anything about the natural sciences, you most likely heard the names of Francis Creek and James Watson - scientists who received the Nobel Prize for the opening structure of the DNA molecule. In fact, their story is not so simple: perhaps, Creek and Watson simply used the studies of their colleague Rosalind Franklin and assigned her merit to themselves. When Franklin was 33, she concluded that DNA consists of two chains and phosphate islands. Franklin confirmed its discovery by X-rays. It is believed that Colleague Franklin showed her research and snapshots to scream and Watson, who used her finds for their own work. Moreover, Watson persuaded Franklin to publish her research - but after he published his. Her work looked no longer discovery, but confirming what Watson and Creek wrote. Scientists received the Nobel Prize, and the name Franklin was forgotten.

Alfred Russell Wallace

helped in creating the theory of evolution

The theory of evolution is primarily associated with the name of Charles Darwin and his book "Origin of species." But there is another scientist who played an equally important role in the study of evolution. Alfred Russell Wallace was a British researcher who, regardless of Darwin, came to the theory of evolution and natural selection. Having made a number of observations in the Malaysian expedition of the middle of the XIX century, Wallace recorded them and sent Darwin to find out his opinion. The work of Wallace inspired Darwin on new ideas about evolution, and they published a joint article, and then Darwin published an independent one in 1858. Wallace experienced financial difficulties almost all his life. He traveled a lot (for example, in the Amazon River area and the Far East) And financed his expeditions, selling animals, insects and plants that collected. After he lost most of the money, putting them into the failed enterprises, Wallace earned only scientific publications.

Cecilia Pain Gaposhkina

opened the composition of the stars and the sun

Cecilia Paine - a scientist woman whose discoveries discredited her chiefs. In his youth, Payne received Grant and studied botany, physics and chemistry at the University of Cambridge. Unfortunately, the education of Paine gave little: Cambridge at that time did not give out scientists to the degrees of women. Paine became interested in astronomy and eventually moved to the Institute of Radcliffe, where he became the first woman who received a doctoral degree in astronomy.

The largest contribution of Pain to Astronomy was that it is the elements from which stars consist. Her colleagues men did not perceive her research seriously. Astronomer Henry Norris Russell, peer-reviewed Payne, convinced her not to print his research. The arguments of Russell concluded that Paj's work contradicted the knowledge of that time - and therefore the scientific community would not accept it. Four years later, Russell changed his mind: he published his own article in which he described what the sun was consisting of. Russell's conclusions were very similar to Pain's conclusions - and he gained recognition for all her work done. According to the evil irony in 1976, Pain even received the Henry Norris Russell Prize for his achievements in astronomy.

Peter Bergmann

helped in the development of a single field theory

The greatest physicist of the 20th century Albert Einstein in the last years of his life trusted all the calculations by younger scientists, its assistants. Einstein's assistants met him every morning, learned his opinion on various issues, and then spent the rest of the day, studying research. The next day, Einstein looked at their calculations, appreciated them, gave advice - and the work continued. The most famous assistant Einstein was a physicist Peter Bergmann. Bergmann was born in 1915 - in the same year, when Einstein ended the work on the theory of relativity. Bergmann since childhood was interested in science, and in the late 1930s became Einstein's protege. The physicist helped Einstein to develop a unified field theory.

When, in 1915, Einstein created a new gravity theory (and the theory of relativity in a new way explained gravity)He realized that the properties of space-time could not be separated from the gravitational field. He tried to unite the physics at that time with the physics of the gravitational field. Despite the fact that it did not succeed, Einstein and Bergmann's calculations were very important for the physics of the 20th century. Now we know that there are other forces that are no less important for the behavior of particles, and their properties are not only electromagnetic and gravitational. Anyway, most calculations did Bergmann. He issued several books on the theory of relativity, and after Einstein's death and further explored gravity.

Milton Huhmason

helped in creating a Hubble law

Milton Huhmason was an assistant to Edwina Hubble, an astronomer, in honor of which the world's most famous space telescope is named. Humason was expelled from school and hired to work by a loader. He drove materials for the construction of the Mount Wilson Observatory in California. After the construction has ended, Humason went to work as a cleaner to the observatory. In parallel, Huhmason worked at night, helping astronomers. In the end, in 1919 he was taken to the staff. According to the pure chance, Hewson did not become a man who discovered Pluto. Outside 11 years before Clyde Tombo, who is considered Pluto's discoverer, Humason made a series of photographs, which first appeared an image of Pluto. It is believed that he did not notice the dwarf planet, because it was closed the defect in the photos. Humasony is called a "forgotten hero", which helped in the creation of the Hubble Law, which describes the movement of galaxies in the universe.

Howard Flory and Ernst Chain

opened medical properties of penicillin

Scientists who discovered Penicillin, consider Alexander Fleming. In fact, Fleming just found a substance - but did not know what to do with it. Fleming opened Penicillin almost by chance, in 1928. The culture containing Penicillin was too unstable, the antibiotic was impossible to isolate in its pure form - and Fleming with colleagues abandoned the study.

People who made a medicine from Penicillina, which changed medicine was Howard Flory and Ernst Chain. In 1939, they conducted a number of experiments on culture (Simply put, mold) Fleming and were able to make a drug from her. Scientists have chosen penicillin for experiments for two reasons: Cheyne attracted instability of the substance, and Flory was interested in the fact that this is the only substance capable of overcome Staphylococcus. Justice, although the name of the Fleming is well known, Flori and Chain are also not forgotten by history: Threesome, together with Fleming, they received the Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine in 1945 "For the opening of Penicillin and his healing effects in various infectious diseases."

Netti Stevens.

opened the difference between the female and male set of chromosomes

By the beginning of the 20th century, biologists and philosophers proposed many theories about how half of a person is determined. Some said that external factors are influenced during pregnancy, others - that hereditary signs. Now we know that half a person depends on the 23rd pair of chromosomes, X and Y. Most textbooks say that Thomas Morgan opened them. In fact, the discovery made a student-scientist Netti Stevens. She became the victim of what is called the "Matilda effect" - when the achievements of women scientists hide or deny.

Stevens studied the sexual definition in the flies of Drozophil and came to the conclusion that they depend on x and y chromosomes. Although many people write that Stevens worked with Morgan, almost all observations she spent independently. Morgan received the Nobel Prize for all the work done Stevens. Later, he published in the journal Science, in which it was told that Stevens acted in a study simply as a laboratory assistant and cannot be called this scientist. At the same time, it was Netti Stevens that began research - and even brought flies of Drozofil to the Morgan laboratory.

Lisa Metener

helped open the division of the nucleus

Research Lisa Maitnener in the field of nuclear physics led to the discovery of the division of the nucleus - the fact that the core of the atom can be divided in two. This discovery, in turn, became the foundation for creating an atomic bomb. In 1907, Austrian Maitnener graduated from Viennese University and moved to Berlin, where he began to work with Chemist Otto Gan. After the Nazis annexed Austria in 1938, the Jewish Metener was forced to leave Stockholm. There she continued to work with Gan, secretly meeting with him and rewriting.

Gan conducted experiments who proved the division of the nucleus, but could not come up with any explanation for being discovered - Maitner did it for him. But Gan published a study without mentioning it as a co-author. Some historians of science believe that Maitner understood why he did it - in Nazi Germany, he could not afford it. Not only nationality, but also Paul Metener played its role: scientists in the Nobel Committee refused to recognize the merits of a woman's scientist. Gan received the Nobel Prize in 1944 for the opening of the division of the nucleus one, without Maitner. Nevertheless, her contemporaries and colleagues said that the Maitner was very important for this discovery. But since her name was not in the study of Ghana - and she did not receive the Nobel Prize, - no one knew the name Maitner for many years.

Our understanding of the world in the flowering of the technological era is all this, and much more is the result of the work of numerous scientists. We live in a progressive world, which develops in a huge pace. This growth and progression is the product of science, numerous studies and experiments. All we use, including cars, electricity, health care and science - the result of inventions and discoveries of these intellectuals. If it were not for the greatest minds of humanity, we still live in the Middle Ages. People perceive everything as proper, but it is still worth giveing \u200b\u200btribute to whom we have what we have. This list presents ten greatest scientists in history, the inventions of which have changed our lives.

Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

Sir Isaac Newton is an English physicist and mathematician, is widely regarded as one of the greatest scientists of all time. The contribution of Newton to science is wide and unique, and the bred laws are still taught in schools as the basis of scientific understanding. His genius is always mentioned together with a funny story - allegedly, Newton opened the power of gravity thanks to the apple, falling from the tree to his head. Truthful story about an apple, or not, but Newton also approved the heliocentric model of space, built the first telescope, formulated the empirical law of cooling and studied the speed of the sound. As mathematician, Newton also took a lot of discoveries that influenced the further development of humanity.

Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Albert Einstein is a physicist of German origin. In 1921, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for the opening of the photovoltaic effect. But the most important achievement of the greatest scientist in history is the theory of relativity, which, along with quantum mechanics, forms the basis of modern physics. It also formulated the ratio of the equivalence of mass energy E \u003d M, which is called as the most famous equation in the world. He also collaborated with other scientists at work, such as Bose Einstein statistics. Einstein's letter to President Roosevelt in 1939, leading to the willingness of its possible nuclear weapons, as expected, is a key incentive in the development of the US atomic bomb. Einstein believes that this is the biggest mistake of his life.

James Maxwell (1831-1879)

Maxwell - Scottish mathematician and physicist, introduced the concept of an electromagnetic field. He proved that the light and the electromagnetic field are moved at the same speed. In 1861 Maxwell made the first color photo after research in the field of optics and colors. The work of Maxwell over thermodynamics and kinetic theory also helped other scientists to make a number of important discoveries. The distribution of Maxwenel-Boltzmann is another major contribution to the development of the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics.

Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)

Louis Paster, French chemist and microbiologist, whose main invention was the process of pasteurization. Pasteur made a number of discoveries in the field of vaccination, creating vaccines from rabies and Siberian ulcers. He also studied the reasons and developed methods for the prevention of diseases than they saved many lives. All this made Pasteur "Father Microbiology". This greatest scientist founded the Pasteur Institute to continue scientific research in many areas.

Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

Charles Darwin is one of the most influential figures in the history of mankind. Darwin, English Naturalist and Zoologist, put forward an evolutionary theory and evolutionism. He provided the basis for understanding the origin of human life. Darwin explained that all his life appeared from the general ancestors and that the development was occurring through natural selection. This is one of the dominant scientific explanations of the diversity of life.

Maria Curi (1867-1934)

Maria Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics (1903) and Chemistry (1911). She became not only the first woman who received a prize, but also the only woman who made it in two fields and the only person who achieved this in different sciences. Its main field of research was radioactivity - methods of isolation of radioactive isotopes and the opening of polonium and radium elements. During World War II, Curi opened the first X-ray center in France, and also developed a mobile field x-ray that helped save the lives of many soldiers. Unfortunately, the prolonged impact of radiation led to aplastic anemia, from which Curie died in 1934.

Nikola Tesla (1856-1943)

Nikola Tesla, Serbian American, the most famous for its work in the field of modern power supply and alternating current system. Tesla at the initial stage worked at Thomas Edison - Developed engines and generators, but later quit. In 1887, he built an asynchronous engine. Tesla experiments gave rise to the invention of radio communications, and the special nature of Tesla gave him a nickname "crazy scientist." In honor of this greatest scientist, in 1960, the unit for measuring the induction of the magnetic field was called "Tesla".

Niels Bor (1885-1962)

Nobel Prize in 1922 Danish physics in 1922, for its work on quantum theory and the structure of the atom. Bor is known for the opening of the atom model. In honor of this greatest scientist, they even called the element of the Borium, previously known as "Gafnia". Bor also played an important role in the founding of the CERN - European Organization for Nuclear Research.

Galileo Galilee (1564-1642)

Galileo Galilee is most famous for its achievements in astronomy. Italian physicist, astronomer, mathematician and philosopher, he improved the telescope and made important astronomical observations, among which the confirmation of the Venus phases and the opening of Jupiter satellites. Furious support for heliocentrism was the reason for the persecution of the scientist, Galilee was even subjected to homely arrest. At that time, he wrote 'two new sciences', thanks to which was called the "father of modern physics."

Aristotle (384-322 BC)

Aristotle is a Greek philosopher, which is the first real scientist in history. His views and ideas influence scientists and in a later year. He was a student of Plato and Alexander Great Teacher. Its work covers a wide variety of objects - physics, metaphysics, ethics, biology, zoology. His views on natural science and physics were innovative and became the base for the further development of humanity.

Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev (1834 - 1907)

Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev can be bolded by one of the greatest scientists in the history of mankind. He discovered one of the fundamental laws of the Universe - the periodic law of chemical elements, which was subordinate to all the universe. The history of this amazing person deserves many volumes, and its discoveries became the engine of the development of the modern world.

Thanks to the opening of American economists, the concept of "average age" may forever go into the past. It will replace another, more pleasant - "age of genius." It is between 30 and 40 people who come up with brilliant inventions and commit an amazing discoveries.

Scientists have long been trying to understand the nature of genius. The first study of the age of the greatest productivity was held back in 1874, but it was possible to get to the truth only recently.

Economists Benjamin Jones from Northwestern University and Bruce Weinberg from Ohio University analyzed, for what period of the life cycle the most ingenerations and discoveries awarded the Nobel Prize were accounted for, and were able to calculate the "age of genilation".

Einstein, you're wrong

The great physicist Albert Eneshtein once vividly noticed that "a person who did not make a large contribution to science to thirty years, he will never do it." When a physicist came up with a special theory of relativity, he was only 26 years old. However, despite its own genius, in determining the age of the greatest productivity, Encentein was mistaken.

• Jones and Weinberg investigated data on 544 Nobel laureates and 286 world-recognized inventors of the 20th century, and found out that 93% of Nobel and simply significant discoveries were committed by scientists over 26 years.
• Piece of discoveries, indeed, are made at a fairly early age, however, the peak of productivity falls for the period between 30 and 40 years.
• The average age of genius in the 20th century is 39 years. After 40, the probability of doing something great sharp decreases.
• Even those who flourished early, achieve the greatest success in more mature age. The same Eneshtein made the greatest contribution to the theory of relativity in the 1930s, when he was already over 50 years old.
• Nikolay Copernicus completed his revolutionary theory of the movement of the planets aged 60 years.
• The most famous works of the Wunderkind Wolfganit Amadeus Mozart were written by them after 30.
• And Steve Jobs, who invented the first Apple's first computer at the age of 21, thought up to the most commercially successful products only about 50.

Aging geniuses

If you look at the age of genius in the historical perspective, it turns out that it increases with each century. Isaac Newton opened the theory of gravity when he was 23 years old - for the 17th century it was the age of the peak of scientific form.

In the 20th century, the average age of the greatest scientific performance grew by 6 years and, according to the Johns forecast, will grow further. The aging of geniine scientists explain the two main factors.

• First, in the last century the world has experienced a serious demographic shift. The human life cycle has changed, and the distribution of the age of scientific discoveries reflects this dynamics.
• Secondly, the volume of knowledge that the scientist needs to take place to make the discovery is dramatically increased.
• As an illustration of the effect, which Jones and Weinberg is called the theory of Knowledge Gruise, economists lead a simple example.
• In the 17th century, John Harvard, whose name is today the best University of Planet, possessed one of the most extensive scientific libraries of his time, it consisted of 320 volumes. Today, 35 million books are kept in the US Congress Library.
• The number of new theories every year is growing as a snowball, in 2012, more than two million studies were published in scientific journals.

Physics ripen before biologists

Each discipline has its own "age of genius." In the exact sciences, it is less than natural. Among the Americans, who received the Nobel Prize until 1972, the average "age of genius" among physicists amounted to 36 years, in Chemists - 39 years, and physiologists - 41 years old.