Outstanding Scientists

"What kind of man," asks Francis Bello in FORTUNE, "becomes an outstanding scientist?" To answer his question, Bello interviewed or questionnaired 107 young (40 or under) scientists judged by their senior colleagues to be outstanding. Some of his findings:

P:All were men. None mentioned a woman scientist under 40 as being his equal in ability.

P:About 75% (79 out of 104) were only children, only sons or eldest sons.

P:About 80% attended public grade and secondary schools. All went to college.

P: About half were brought up as Protestants; more than one-quarter were Jewish; less than 5% came from Catholic families. At present, nearly three-quarters have no religious affiliation (including all the former Catholics).

P: One-third were born in cities with populations of more than 1,000,000; very few came from farms or small towns.

P: 80% voted for Stevenson in 1952. Psychologists were unanimous; only astronomers favored Eisenhower by five to three.

Says Bello: "Perhaps the most ubiquitous characteristic of outstanding young scientists is a fierce independence. This is invariably coupled with a strong desire to work on the most crucial problems in their field. As a consequence, industry, by and large, does not appeal to the most highly creative young scientists. Reason: industry, with few exceptions, makes its researchers stick pretty close to 'practical' problems."

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