The Nobel family

Richard S.J. Tol*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Nobel laureates cluster together. 696 of the 727 winners of the Nobel Prize in physics, chemistry, medicine, and economics belong to one single academic family tree. 668 trace their ancestry to Emmanuel Stupanus, 228 to Lord Rayleigh (physics, 1904). Craig Mello (medicine, 2006) counts 51 Nobelists among his ancestors. Chemistry laureates have the most Nobel ancestors and descendants, economics laureates the fewest. Chemistry is the central discipline. Its Nobelists have trained and are trained by Nobelists in other fields. Nobelists in physics (medicine) have trained (by) others. Economics stands apart. Openness to other disciplines is the same in recent and earlier times. The familial concentration of Nobelists is lower now than it used to be.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1329-1346
Number of pages18
JournalScientometrics
Volume129
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.

Keywords

  • A14
  • Academic genealogy
  • D85
  • Nobel prize
  • Research training
  • Z13

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