Where do the best mathematicians come from?
Americans think that the best scientists come from their best universities. To learn more, consider where the influential mathematicians from:
| got their degree in the USA | 33% |
| got their Ph.D. in the USA | 58% |
| working in the USA | 68% |
The American scientific dominance relies partially on the ability of the USA to attract and retain the best and the brightest:
- 33.6% of European PhDs were attracted to faculty or research positions in the US.
- 55% of non-European foreign PhDs were attracted to faculty positions in the US.
- Only 10% of American Ph.D.s go work abroad.
Reference: Influential Mathematicians: Birth, Education and Affiliation
Further reading: It may not matter all that much where you go to college and Big schools are no longer giving researchers an edge?
Montreal, Canada 
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From your phrasing, “Americans think,” it sounds like you dispute that “the best scientists come from their best universities”? But your statistics support that statement. What is your position?
Comment by Jon — 12/9/2009 @ 2:57
There is probably a nonlinear recursive process at work: because the best people go to the USA, the best people want to go to the USA (to be with the other smart people).
Comment by Daniel Lemire — 12/9/2009 @ 8:44