When 17-year-old Malala Yousafzai was announced as one of the winners of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize on October 10, she became the youngest Nobel laureate ever. (The next youngest is William Lawrence Bragg who in 1915 won for physics alongside his father at the less tender age of 25.) So how unusual is it to have younger people in the mix?
The age, sex, education, and facial hair of every Nobel Prize winner, in one chart
We can get a clue from this BBC Future chart of the age, sex, birthplace, and a whole bunch of other stats about the Nobel Prize winners through 2012:
By and large, Nobel Prize winners have been on the older side — 61 years old, on average. Partly, this is because it can often take some time to figure out if someone’s accomplishments have had a big impact.
But there are also some interesting trends within this chart. For example, the Nobel Peace Prize has had the most regional diversity, the most women, the most unmarried winners, and (along with physics) a bunch of 35-and-unders.
The Economics Prize has also seen some interesting trends that make it more unusual. It’s the most North American and the most top-tier-universitied. And it ties for the fewest women and (oddly enough) is the most clean-shaven.
(And no, unlike this chart might seem to be suggesting, shaving your face and getting married probably won’t increase your chances of getting a Nobel. These are more likely correlations.)
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By Susannah Locke
By Susannah Locke
