A Chosen Calling: Jews in Science in the Twentieth Century by Noah J. Efron
The book on Kindle
Scholars have struggled for decades to explain why Jews have succeeded extravagantly in modern science.
Rejecting the idea that Jews have done well in science because of uniquely Jewish traits, Jewish brains, and Jewish habits of mind, historian of science Noah J. Efron approaches the Jewish affinity for science through the geographic and cultural circumstances of Jews who were compelled to settle in new worlds in the early twentieth century.
Seeking relief from religious persecution, millions of Jews resettled in the United States, Palestine, and the Soviet Union, with large concentrations of settlers in New York, Tel Aviv, and Moscow. Science played a large role in the lives and livelihoods of these immigrants: it was a universal force that transcended the arbitrary Old World orders that had long ensured the exclusion of all but a few Jews from the seats of power, wealth, and public esteem. Although the three destinations were far apart geographically, the links among the communities were enduring and spirited. This shared experience – of facing the future in new worlds, both physical and conceptual – provided a generation of Jews with opportunities unlike any their parents and grandparents had known.
A Chosen Calling: Jews in Science in the Twentieth Century by Noah J. Efron
