Then came three enormous waves of academic and scientific talent to the US.
I don't think people have quite internalized *how* the US became the global leader in science and technology. It's partially a story of massive global talent migration.
And it's important to get this story right if we want to maintain
Then came three enormous waves of academic and scientific talent to the US.
In a massive own-goal, 1930s Nazi Germany dismissed ~15% of the physicists who made up a stunning 64% (!) of their physics citations.

With the Cold War looming, the US brought over ~1,600 scientists through Operation Paperclip and the Soviets ~2,500 through Operation Osoaviakhim.

Perhaps an underrated element in the fall of the Soviet Union is how we absorbed most of their top scientific talent as faith in the regime was starting to falter.
— Caleb Watney (@calebwatney) July 6, 2020
A great 1990 NYT article on it here:https://t.co/NXBldbgoV0 pic.twitter.com/TEgytTYsJv
https://t.co/i0QMZeQaEa
Using the Nobel Prize in Physics as a rough proxy, American scientists were involved in only three of the thirty prizes awarded between 1901 to 1933.
And a huge share of these Nobel laureates have been either first- or second-generation immigrants from these three waves.
We were unquestionably the best location for scientific research and so most inventors/promising academics wanted to come here.

1) US immigration restrictions are growing more burdensome
2) There are better opportunities to contribute to cutting-edge research at home
https://t.co/EYSUhofYeO
Today we grudgingly let the most talented individuals apply to live here; we do not actively recruit them.
The main job of immigration agents seems to be “avoid letting in terrorists” rather than “maximize the growth potential of the United States.”

We are the R&D lab for the world and we should act like it.
https://t.co/jwGI6exill
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