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Topic · History and Philosophy of Science

Twentieth Century Scientific Developments

Twentieth Century Scientific Developments is a research topic within History and Philosophy of Science. Science Explorer counts 6.7k research works in it since 1950. 10.3% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the intersection of science and technology with the geopolitical and ideological dynamics of the Cold War era. It delves into topics such as international scientific cooperation, atomic energy, scientific intelligence, social sciences, and the impact of political ideologies on scientific research and knowledge production.

  • Cold War
  • Science
  • Technology
  • Internationalism
  • Atomic Energy
  • Nuclear Power
  • Scientific Intelligence
  • Social Sciences
  • Lysenkoism
  • Global Regulation
Research works
6.7k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
689
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.3%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+17%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
40% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Twentieth Century Scientific Developments

Which countries lead Twentieth Century Scientific Developments research?

By volume, the United States and Germany publish the most (258 and 100 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 258 works
  2. 2 Germany 100 works
  3. 3 United Kingdom 66 works
  4. 4 France 56 works
  5. 5 Italy 44 works
  6. 6 Russia 42 works
  7. 7 Spain 21 works
  8. 8 India 20 works
  9. 9 Canada 20 works
  10. 10 Australia 20 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 39.8%Germany: 15.5%United Kingdom: 10.3%France: 8.6%6 others listed: 25.8%40%largest
United States258 · 39.8%Germany100 · 15.5%United Kingdom66 · 10.3%France56 · 8.6%6 others listed167 · 25.8%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Twentieth Century Scientific Developments research?

By volume in 2022-now, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique publishes the most Twentieth Century Scientific Developments research, followed by Russian Academy of Sciences and Slovak Academy of Sciences.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 18 works
  2. 2 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 16 works
  3. 3 Slovak Academy of SciencesSlovakia 9 works
  4. 4 Max Planck SocietyGermany 8 works
  5. 5 Istituto Nazionale di Fisica NucleareItaly 7 works
  6. 6 Uppsala UniversitySweden 7 works
  7. 7 Leibniz AssociationGermany 6 works
  8. 8 University of ManchesterUnited Kingdom 6 works
  9. 9 University of ChicagoUnited States 5 works
  10. 10 University of ViennaAustria 5 works

What are the most cited papers in Twentieth Century Scientific Developments?

The most cited paper in Twentieth Century Scientific Developments is "Falsification and the Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes" (И. Лакатос, 1970), with 4,449 citations. Next come "Nuclear Constitution and the Interpretation of Fission Phenomena" (2,174) and "Table of Isotopes" (1,154).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Falsification and the Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes И. Лакатос · Cambridge University Press eBooks Book chapter 2 Sep 1970 4,449
2 Nuclear Constitution and the Interpretation of Fission Phenomena David L. Hill, JOHN ARCHIBALD WHEELER · Physical Review Mar 1953 2,174
3 Table of Isotopes Donald Strominger, J.M. Hollander, G.T. Seaborg · Reviews of Modern Physics Apr 1958 1,154
4 Pharmaceutical innovation by the seven UK‐owned pharmaceutical companies (1964‐1985). RA Prentis, Yvonne Lis, SR Walker · British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology Open access Mar 1988 473
5 The coal gas story. United Kingdom suicide rates, 1960-71. Norman Kreitman · Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health Open access Jun 1976 454
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Twentieth Century Scientific Developments research done?

The largest centres of Twentieth Century Scientific Developments research in 2022-now are Paris (France), Moscow (Russia), London (United Kingdom) and Berlin (Germany). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Paris.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 ParisFrance 30 works
  2. 2 MoscowRussia 22 works
  3. 3 LondonUnited Kingdom 20 works
  4. 4 BerlinGermany 14 works
  5. 5 MunichGermany 11 works
  6. 6 New YorkUnited States 9 works
  7. 7 BratislavaSlovakia 9 works
  8. 8 ViennaAustria 9 works
  9. 9 BeijingChina 9 works
  10. 10 Washington D.C.United States 9 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. ParisFR · 29.5 works4.0×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Twentieth Century Scientific Developments than the world average.

See Twentieth Century Scientific Developments on the map

Is Twentieth Century Scientific Developments research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 17% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Twentieth Century Scientific Developments.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Twentieth Century Scientific Developments as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0034% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%Twentieth Century Scientific Developments0.0040% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Twentieth Century Scientific Developments over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Twentieth Century Scientific Developments9.6% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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