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Jews Who Fled Nazis Revolutionized US Science, Stanford Economist Says

posted by janrinok on Friday August 15 2014, @10:24PM   
from the every-cloud-etc dept.

AnonTechie writes:

U.S. patents increased by 31 percent in fields common among Jewish scientists who fled Nazi Germany for America, according to Stanford economist Petra Moser. Their innovative influence rippled outward for generations, as the emigres attracted new researchers who then trained other up-and-comers. Anecdotal accounts suggest that the arrival of German Jewish emigres to America who were fleeing the Nazi regime in the 1930s revolutionized U.S. science and innovation.

But this claim has never been empirically confirmed until now, thanks to new research by a Stanford economist. Petra Moser, an assistant professor of economics at Stanford, found that the number of U.S. patents increased by 31 percent after 1933 in fields common among those who emigrated from Germany, according to her research paper. In fact, these scientists and inventors led a transformation of American innovation in the post-World War II period.

"German Jewish emigres had a huge effect on U.S. innovation," Moser said in an interview. "They helped increase the quality of research by training a new generation of American scientists, who then became productive researchers in their own rights."

• Re:Thanks, but no thanks. Re:Thanks, but no thanks. (Score: 1, Informative) by JNCF on Saturday August 16 2014, @12:34AM

  by JNCF (4317) on Saturday August 16 2014, @12:34AM (#81940) Journal

  American jews have very little to do with Gaza, and large numbers of them do not approve of the Israeli government's actions and say so publicly.

  Yeah, large numbers of Jews oppose Israel, but large numbers of Jews also support Israel. Saying "large numbers" doesn't help much when you're talking about sufficiently large groups of people. The real numbers are complicated, and vary between different groups of Jews and different phrasings of questions. Even the numbers I'm about to present in a big ugly blockquote don't tell the whole story, but I think they get closer than "large numbers." The fact is, American support of Israel is approved of by most people of a Judeo-Christian background and American Jews are a part of that. This is problematic, because the Israeli government clearly wants an ongoing conflict with Palestine which results in a lot of needless carnage.

  1. Sharp divide on whether Israel was "given to the Jewish people by God"

  • 40 percent of American Jews believe the land that is now Israel was given to the Jewish people by God.

  • 55 percent of American Christians believe this – far more than even most Jews – including 64 percent of Protestant Christians.

  • The groups least likely to believe this are secular Jews (16 percent), reform Jews (35 percent) and Catholics (38 percent).

  • This view is overwhelmingly common among Orthodox Jews (84 percent) and white Evangelical Christian (82 percent). If you've been to Israel, you have surely seen large tour groups of American Evangelical Christians.

  2. Orthodox Jews and Evangelical Christian share skepticism of two-state solution

  • 61 percent of American Jews agree that "there a way for Israel and an independent Palestinian state to coexist peacefully. Compare this to 50 percent of the American public.

  • The biggest supporters of a two-state solution are secular Jews (72 percent), Conservative Jews (62 percent) and Reform Jews (58 percent).

  • The biggest skeptics are Orthodox Jews (30 percent) and white Evangelical Christian (42 percent). Note the similarities between this number and the groups who believe Israel was given to the Jews by God.

  3. Few trust Palestinian peace-making; Israel's efforts also viewed skeptically

  • Only 21 percent of secular Jews agree that the "Israel government is making a sincere effort to bring about a peace settlement" with the Palestinians. That's a staggeringly low number.

  • 61 percent of Orthodox Jews believe this, including 73 percent of Modern Orthodox. The only other religious group for which over half believe this is Conservative Jews, at 52 percent. (Data for Christians is not available on this question.)

  • Among all Jews, 38 percent say they believe the Israel government is making a sincere effort.

  • The Palestinian leadership scored far worse among all group. Among all American Jews, only 12 percent believe it's making a sincere effort toward peace. That's highest among Conservative Jews (14 percent) and lowest among Ultra-Orthodox (6 percent).

  4. Only one in three Jews feels strong "emotional attachment to Israel"

  • 30 percent of American Jews answered "very attached" when asked the level of their "emotional attachment to Israel." 39 percent said "somewhat attached" and 22 percent said "not very attached," with only 9 percent citing no attachment.

  • Still, that means 69 percent feel some meaningful level of attachment to Israel. More than half of every group answered either "very" or "somewhat" attached – except for secular Jews, who selected "very" and "somewhat" by 12 and 33 percent, respectively. This group makes up 22 percent of American Jews.

  • Orthodox Jews feel the strongest attachment, with 61 percent saying they feel very attached and 30 percent somewhat attached.

  5. No group supports settlements, but Orthodox come closest

  • 44 percent of American Jews say the ongoing Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank "hurts Israel's security." 17 percent say it helps; 29 percent say it makes no difference.

  • Only 16 percent of Orthodox Jews say the settlements hurt Israeli security. 34 percent say they help (including 38 percent among Modern Orthodox) and 39 percent say it does not make a difference.

  • Reform and secular Jews are most likely to say that settlements hurt Israeli security, at 50 and 55 percent, respectively.

  • Conservative Jews say three-to-two that settlements hurt rather than help Israeli security (36 and 23 percent, respectively), making them the group closest to split.

  6. Most Jews feel Israel gets the right amount of U.S. support

  • 54 percent of American Jews say that the level of U.S. support for Israel is "about right." 11 percent say the U.S. is too supportive and 31 that it's not supportive enough.

  • The general American public is more likely to skew toward wanting less support for Israel. 22 percent say their country is too supportive of Israel; 25 percent want to see more U.S. support for Israel. 41 percent say it's about right.

  • Only Orthodox Jews are more likely than not to say that U.S. support for Israel is insufficient. 53 percent say the U.S. is not supportive enough of Israel. They are most closely followed by white Evangelical Christians, with 46 percent saying this.

  • The group most likely to believe that the U.S. is too supportive of Israel: Americans who are not religiously affiliated, 35 percent of whom say this. Among Jews, it's secular Jews, at 27 percent (50 percent of this group sees support levels as "about right").

  7. Most Jews approve of Obama's handling of Israel

  • 60 percent of Jews say they approve of Obama's policy toward Israel. This is highest among Jews over 65 (at 66 percent) and Reform Jews (65 percent). Conservative Jews are also supportive (60 percent), with secular Jews a touch less so (54 percent).

  • Support is lowest among Christian groups; 38 percent of American Christians support Obama's Israel policy, including just 26 percent of white Evangelical Christians.

  • The most critical Jewish group is Orthodox Jews, 36 percent of whom approve of Obama's approach to Israel.

  8. "Caring about Israel" not a top feature of Jewish identity

  • Pew came up with nine different traits commonly associated with Jewish identity and asked Jewish respondents to answer whether each is "essential to being Jewish." Among those nine traits, "caring about Israel" was the fifth most likely to be selected. 43 percent called this essential.

  • Traits more likely to be considered "essential to being Jewish" than caring about Israel, from most to least popular: Remembering the Holocaust, leading an ethical and moral life, working for justice/equality, being intellectually curious.

  • Among religious Jews, 49 percent called caring about Israel an essential Jewish trait. It still ranks fifth for this group.

  • Among secular Jews, only 23 percent called caring about Israel an essential Jewish trait. It ranks sixth, behind "having a good sense of humor."

  Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/10/03/8-fascinating-trends-in-how-american-jews-think-about-israel/ [washingtonpost.com]

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• Re:Thanks, but no thanks. Re:Thanks, but no thanks. (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Saturday August 16 2014, @10:59AM

  by maxwell demon (1608) on Saturday August 16 2014, @10:59AM (#82044) Journal

  1. Sharp divide on whether Israel was "given to the Jewish people by God"
  [...]
  The groups least likely to believe this are secular Jews (16 percent), reform Jews (35 percent) and Catholics (38 percent).

  Really? I would have thought the group least likely to believe this would be atheists (0 percent).

  --
  The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.

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  • Re:Thanks, but no thanks. (Score: 1) by JNCF on Saturday August 16 2014, @09:43PM

    by JNCF (4317) on Saturday August 16 2014, @09:43PM (#82143) Journal

    In another question it states "data for Christians not available for this question." You're looking at a Pew survey focusing on certain data sets, maybe I should have been more clear about that before providing it in blockquote form. The set they're dealing with that is most likely to include lots of atheists would be the secular Jews, who were noted to have the lowest belief rates in that statement. Obviously not all secular Jews are atheists, but a lot of them are.

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