Correlations Between Avocations, Scientific Style, Work Habits, and Professional Impact of Scientists

Abstract

Forty male scientists (including 4 who eventually won Nobel prizes) were interviewed four times between 1958 and 1978 concerning their work habits, use of time, hobbies, attitudes, and related issues. The 38 who were still alive in 1988 then filled out a questionnaire concerning their various forms of thinking (e.g., verbal, visual, kinesthetic), their avocations, forms and extent of physical exercise, and when they were most likely to have significant scientific insights (e.g., while working on a problem directly, while working on other problems, while relaxing, on walking). The questionnaire and interview information was then collated and statistically analyzed with regard to the impact of each scientist to determine if any correlations exist between scientific success and avocations, preferred modes of thinking, use of time, energy, or related factors. Significant correlations were found between scientific success and particular modes of thinking (especially visual ones), between success and various hobbies (especially artistic and musical ones), between particular hobbies and use of particular modes of scientific thinking, between success and having a broad range of avocations and forms of physical exercise, and between success and the efficient use of time to manage many competing vocation and avocational demands. We conclude that successful scientists have highly integrated networks of enterprise, whereas less successful colleagues tend to have fewer nonscientific activities that they do not integrate. They develop nonfunctional networks of enterprise in which activities compete against, rather than sustain, each other.