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The
United
States
leads the world in technology,
scientific research and the quality of its scientists
because
U.S.
science education is the worlds best. From 1951
to 2005 Americans have won 195 or 56% of the 350 Nobel
Prizes awarded in Medicine, Physics and Chemistry. In
October 2005 the Americans were awarded four of the
eight Nobel Prizes for science achievement. The country
of citizenship of Nobel Prize winners in 2005 is; Medicine:
Australia
2, Physics: American 2,
Germany
1, Chemistry: American 2, France 1 (See page 2 Nobel
Prizes in Science 1951 to 2005)
The
United
States
is the uncontested
leader of the world in scientific research in respect
to published accomplishments, Nobel Prizes, volume of
research and expenditures on scientific research. The
United States
is the leader of the world in technology and the unchallenged
leader of the world in the global economy. The
United States
dominates the world
because of its educational systems, including K-12 public
education that produces the most highly educated, productive
and successful workforce in the world.
It is incomprehensible how American K-12 public school
critics, including politicians and conservative think
tanks, are allowed to get away with the bashing of all
American K-12 schools based on bogus analysis of useless
international tests without serious challenge by an
academically disadvantaged media. Critics of American
public schools use K-12 education as the scapegoat for
all of the social and economic problems of the
United States
The media
and experts the media chooses to quote frequently declare
the following:
1.
American elementary and secondary education is below
the academic level of education in other countries,
particularly in science and mathematics.
2.
The quality of American colleges and universities is
generally considered to be exalted in the world of postsecondary
education.
How could both of these statements be correct? The first
statement is absolute nonsense and the second is absolutely
true. American colleges and universities attract students
from all over the world, particularly in science and
engineering because it is believed that they are the
best in the world. American university students who
primarily come from American high schools that produce
large numbers of bright, innovative, competitive, and
hard working graduates create the high quality of American
colleges and universities. Universities are as good
as their students. Another reason for the superiority
of American postsecondary education is the exemplary
democratic American culture, which is the most competitive
and utilitarian in the world.
American K-12 public education systems get none of the
credit for the
United
States
leadership in
science, technology and the global economy for the last
60 years. There is absolutely no crisis in American
K-12 science education or shortage of outstanding scientists. About 5% of jobs
in the
United
States
projected to
2012 might require higher math and or science course
work. (See www.jobseducationwis.org 210 Top 206 Job Titles for Employment in the
United States
in 2012)
Nobel Prizes in Science –Chemistry, Physics and Medicine
1951 to 2004
The
United States
is by far the leading country in the world since 1951
in awards of Nobel Prizes in Science, which include
Chemistry, Physics and Medicine-Physiology.
United States
scientists received 195 or 56% of the 350 Nobel Prizes
in Science awarded from 1951 to 2005. The
United
States
has received
a majority of Nobel Prizes in Science each decade from
1951 to 2000. From 1991 to 2005
U.S.
scientists
earned 59 (57.8%) of the 102 Nobel Prizes awarded in
Science. The following table shows the top 10 countries
in the world in numbers of Nobel Prizes in Science awarded
1951 to 2005.
Top 10 Countries in
the World – Nobel Prizes in Science 1951 to 2005
Country of Citizenship
|
Chemistry
|
Physics
|
Medicine
|
Total Nobel Prizes
|
Nobel Prizes-Science
|
Nobel Prizes
|
Nobel Prizes
|
Nobel Prizes*
|
In Science 1951-2005
|
|
102*
|
123*
|
125*
|
350*
|
1.
United
States
|
48 (47%)
|
75 (61%)
|
72 (58%)
|
195 (56%) of all Prizes
|
2.
Great
Britain
|
19 (19%)
|
7 (6%)
|
19 (15%)
|
45 (13%)
|
3.
Germany
|
10 (11%)
|
13 (11%)
|
9 (7%)
|
32 (9%)
|
4.
Russia
|
1 (1%)
|
9 (8%)
|
2 (2%)
|
12 (4%)
|
5.
France
|
1 (1%)
|
4 (3%)
|
5 (4%)
|
10 (3%)
|
6.
Sweden
|
0
|
2 (2%)
|
6 (5%)
|
8 (2%)_
|
6.
Japan
|
4 (4%)
|
3 (3%)
|
1 (1%)
|
8 (2%)
|
8.
Canada
|
3 (3%)
|
2 (2%)
|
0
|
5 (2%)
|
8. Dutch
|
1 (1%)
|
4 (3%)
|
0
|
5 (2%)
|
8.
Switzerland
|
2 (2%)
|
0
|
3 (2%)
|
5 (2%)
|
*Includes the remaining countries of the world that won 26 Nobel
Science Prizes
1951 to 2005 Chemistry 13 (13%) Physics 4 (3%) Medicine 9 (6%)
Total 26 (5%)
Nobel Prizes in Science 1901-2005
1901 to 1950 and 1951
to 2005 Nobel Prizes for sciences were awarded as follows:
Nobel Prizes for Chemistry 1901 to 2001
|
|
|
|
Americans
|
All of
Europe
|
All Other Countries
|
Total
|
1901-1950
|
7 (15%)
|
39 (85%
|
0
|
46
|
1951-2005
|
48 (47%)
|
41 (40%)
|
13(13%)
|
102
|
Nobel Prizes for Physics
|
|
|
|
1901-1950
|
9 (17%)
|
43 (80%)
|
2 (4%)
|
54
|
1951-2005
|
75 (61%)
|
42 (34%)
|
6 (5%)
|
123
|
Nobel prizes for Medicine and Physiology
|
|
|
1901-1950
|
15 (25%)
|
44 (73%)
|
1 (2%)
|
60
|
1951-2005
|
72 (58%)
|
47 (38%)
|
6 (5%)
|
125
|
Total Nobel Prizes for Science
|
|
|
Americans
All of
Europe
|
All Other Countries
|
Total
|
1901-1950
|
31 (19%)
|
126 (79%)
|
3 (2%)
|
160
|
1951-2005
|
195 (56%)
|
129 (37%)
|
26 (7%)
|
350
|
1901-2005
|
226 (44%)
|
255 (50%)
|
29 (6%)
|
510
|
(Sources:
World of Winners Gale Research, World Almanac 1999,
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel October 2000, 2001, 2002,
2003, 2004, 2005))
The percentage of Americans receiving Nobel prizes in
Science (chemistry, physics, physiology or medicine)
increased from 19%, 31 prizes 1901 to 1950, to 56%,
195 prizes from 1951 to 2005. The Europeans completely
dominated the winning of Nobel prizes for the first
30 years (Germans and British were the biggest winners).
Americans received only 6 prizes in the first 30 years
(Europeans earned 86) and Americans received their first
prizes in Physics 1907, Chemistry 1914 and Physiology
or Medicine 1930. Since 1950 Americans have dominated
the winning of Nobel prizes in Physics and Physiology
or Medicine and have been about equal in Chemistry.
However, since 1980 Americans have won 28 Chemistry
prizes while all of
Europe
has won 21.
Critics of American science education have implied that
foreign-born scientists are the primary reason for the
American dominance in science since World War II. That
is not the case. In the tabulations by country in this
study the country designated for the scientist is the
country where the scientific work was done. For example,
Albert Einstein received a 1921 Nobel Prize for work
he did in
Germany
and was counted as a German recipient and not as a
U.S.
citizen. Dramatic increases of
American recipients of Nobel prizes have occurred since
1970 with a few foreign-trained scientists earning prizes.
On the other hand, many foreign born scientists come
to the U.S to receive their advanced science education
and then remain in the
U.S.
because the world knows that the
U.S.
is the best in science. If a Nobel Prize winner
is not a
U.S.
citizen and earns a Nobel Prize in the
U.S.
they are
counted as a recipient from their native country.
The visible quality accomplishments of American scientists
and engineers are recognized throughout the world.
At a European conference for institutional research
held in
Trier
Germany
in 1989 a German presenter pointed out
that Americans had received 41 Nobel Prizes for chemistry
and physics from 1979 to 1989 while all of
Europe
earned 20. The speaker used this data as part
of his criticism of European science education as compared
to the
United
States
. When
I asked him how many Nobel Prizes the Japanese had received
in the last ten years he said two. (Japan has won only
8 Nobel Prizes in Science 1901-2005, 2 in 2002) Japanese
universities are not highly regarded in the world for
their academics, but Europeans and Americans have feared
the economic strength of
Japan
until the later 1990s when their
economic strength severely declined. (Unbelievably,
in the 1980s and early 1990s American economists were
foolishly saying that the superiority of the Japanese
economy was because their K-12 education systems were
superior to the
United
States
.)
The quality of American education continues to improve
as the media berates it based on irrelevant and invalid
standardized testing. Insane is too mild a term for
the standardized testing mania that is sweeping the
United States
.
Some praise for American students at all educational
levels might motivate our exemplary American schools
to improve even more. There is no doubt; American schools
produce the finest scientists in the world. And the
American educational systems, most notably including
American K-12 education, continue to upgrade the quality
of their science graduates each year.
My views are based on 50 years of active experience in
American education as an administrator, educational
researcher and a chemist who taught chemistry at the
secondary and university level in the 1950’s and
60’s.
Dennis
W. Redovich, redovich@execpc.com
Originally written October 1992 and revised
each year October 1993 to 2005
See www.jobseducationwis.org for Center reports on American Education
As a public speaker or as a consultant he may be contacted
at 6438 Sycamore St. Greendale WI 53129 414-421-1120
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