【摘要】 日本新世纪19名诺贝尔科学奖得主中,在二战结束前出生的超过2/3;在战后接受高等教育的超过九成;在日本国内读完大学本科或专科的达到100%;在上世纪最后三十年里取得获奖奠基性成果的超过八成。以上数据较好地揭示了日本新世纪诺贝尔科学奖得主的一些群体特征。作者基于这些统计数据对日本新世纪诺贝尔科学奖得主所处的社会环境进行考察后指出:日本新世纪出现诺贝尔科学奖"井喷"现象与战后的教育改革有关;获奖得主受到了导师精神气质的深刻影响的同时,也得益于研究开发经费的持续增长。文章最后得出以下推论:全面改良科学技术创新"土壤"似比定向培养科学技术创新"苗子"成效更大;前辈学者对科学研究的正面示范有时胜过"帽子"、"票子"和"位子"的激励。没有稳定与充裕的研究开发经费支撑很难有真正且持久的无人区自由探索。更多还原

【Abstract】 Among the 19 Japanese Nobel Prize laureates in the natural sciences in the 21 st century,two thirds were born before the Second World War; over 90% received their higher education after the war; all of them fulfilled each undergraduate course in Japanese public universities; and 80% made their prize-winning achievements in the last 30 years of 20 th century. These statistics not only reveal some important collective characteristics of these laurates, but also reflect how the social contexts of Japan might have contributed to the springing-up of Nobel Prize winners. The author argues that the success of these scientists has benefited significantly from Japan’s post-war educational reforms, the warstimulated mentalities of their mentors, and the constant increase of government investment in research and development. It is further concluded that science、technology and innovation seem to benefit more from favorable research environment than from individual support to researchers; that the positive morals from mentors sometimes counts more than titles, economic incentive and positions; and that stable and sufficient funding is essential to support free exploration at the research frontiers.更多还原