MarxSchmarx
10th February 2012, 02:31
I came across this fascinating study done recently on how the massive emmigration of Russian mathematicians after the fall of the USSR, particularly to the United States, profoundly changed the way American mathematics is done.
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/02/09/how-soviet-migration-impacted-field-mathematics
In general, the conclusion is there was almost a lost generation of American mathematicians who now had to compete for jobs with the best minds of the eastern bloc (apparently working in Russia was not an option for many of these Americans). As time went on, the students of the Soviet mathematicians in the US started to do better in careers than other students as well.
It's hard to imagine anything quite like it repeating itself.
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/02/09/how-soviet-migration-impacted-field-mathematics
In general, the conclusion is there was almost a lost generation of American mathematicians who now had to compete for jobs with the best minds of the eastern bloc (apparently working in Russia was not an option for many of these Americans). As time went on, the students of the Soviet mathematicians in the US started to do better in careers than other students as well.
It's hard to imagine anything quite like it repeating itself.