I am interested in this generally, and wasn't sure if it was appropriate to ask, but after reading the wikipedia page about her religious background, I think its ok, as Vera seems to be an observant Jew.
In her opinion, why are Jews so heavily involved with physics? And why does she think they are so successful in the field (something like 40% of physics nobels are given to someone with at lea one Jewish parent.
She has clearly given her own family a strong drive for academics (4 kids, 4 PhDs), I wanted to know if that was the same for other Jews in her space or some other reason.
Sorry I don't have a more technical question.
Something else happened at that time which is worth mentioning here. One of the questions the rabbinical students and I discussed at some length was why it is that in academic things, such as theoretical physics, there is a higher proportion of Jewish kids than their proportion in the general population. The rabbinical students thought the reason was that the Jews have a history of respecting learning: They respect their rabbis, who are really teachers, and they respect education. The Jews pass on this tradition in their families all the time, so that if a boy is a good student, it's as good as, if not better than, being a good football player.
It was the same afternoon that I was reminded how true it is. I was invited to one of the rabbinical students' home, and he introduced me to his mother, who had just come back from Washington, D.C. She clapped her hands together, in ecstasy, and said, "Oh! My day is complete. Today I met
a general, and a professor!"
I realized that there are not many people who think it's just as important, and just as nice, to meet a professor as to meet a general. So I guess there's something in what they said.
I would imagine Jewish communities push higher education and achievements relating to it at a rate well above the norm. They are also a sizable minority in countries likely to produce nobel laureates. I suspect given a few decades asians will have similar recognition as another generation or so of people coming from a somewhat similar community reach the height of their careers.
ONLY 40% of Physics nobels are given to jews, that leaves 60% to non-Jews. So, its not surprising that Martin O'Leary isn't Jewish. Unless his mom is and he took his dad's non-Jewish name. :)
