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The leading 2004 Olympic medal winners by country are:
Source: BBC Sports
Yet, adjusting for population size, the medals table looks different! By all medals won per million people, Australia is the best performer, followed by Cuba and Estonia and other mostly smaller countries by population. By this measure, the US ranks 37th and China 58th!
Source: BBC Sports (Medal Count); US Bureau of the Census, International Data (2004 data).
OK, we seen the countries that are athletic, but how do they score in the brains race? Measured by recent (2003-2004) publications in the emerging field of nanoscience, the overall top-ten nanopublishing performance table looks interestingly like the Olympics rankings. The exceptions: Australia and Cuba drop out, South Korea and India drop in!
Source: Analysis of publications in nanoscience in 2003-2004 (Jan-May) in Science Citations Index (N=42082) by Youtie, Shapira and Bhawsar.
Adjusted by population (nanopublications per million people), the nanopublication rankings look different. Liechtenstein (33,000 people) and Singapore (4.3 million people) head the list (neither country won medals in this year’s games). Monoco’s single credited nanopublication is enough to score a 10th place ranking on a pubs/million basis, given it’s population of just over 32,000 people. The US (pop. 293 million) is a credible 14th. China and India (good publication performance but huge populations) move down.
Source: Analysis of publications in nanoscience in 2003-2004 (Jan-May) in Science Citations Index (N=42082) by Youtie, Shapira and Bhawsar; US Bureau of the Census (Population Count, 2004 data).
Brains v. Brawn? Obviously, countries differ in their performance in nanoscience publication and Olympics sport. Considering all countries that won at least one medal and have at least one nanopublication, India, Israel, and Taiwan are countries that are comparatively much more specialized in nanoscience publication than in Olympic 2004 sport. For what it’s worth, the US is significantly more specialized in nanoscience than in Olympic sport (hard to believe if we just followed media coverage!). China also does better in nanoscience publication than Olympic sport. On the other hand, the countries that are more specialized in Olympic sport than in nanopublication are led by Kenya, North Korea, and Jamaica. The place of Australia needs interpretation: they are good in nanopublication (21st by pubs/million), but they are superb in sports (1st by 2004 medals/million population). Still, Australians are also relatively more sporty than brainy on this measure!
Sources: See tables above. Note: Specialization = ratio of country share of total nano publications (2003-4) divided by medals won in Olympics 2004. Ratio >1 = more specialized in publications; Ratio
[thanks to Dr.Philip Shapira, Georgia Tech for sharing this "time-pass" analysis]
by Patrix | on Monday, August 30th, 2004 at 11:45 am | 
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August 30th, 2004 at 12:15 pm reply
This analysis proves one conclusion yet another time…
You can prove anything you want with proper use of statistics.
August 30th, 2004 at 12:15 pm reply
No matter how you cut & serve it up … we just dont make the list, eh?
-star, Canada
August 30th, 2004 at 3:33 pm reply
Parag - As Mark Twain said, there are lies, damned lies and statistics but I liked the comparisons of brain and brawn althought the criteria of nanoscience for assessing brain power may not be entirely appropriate.
Star - where the heck are you??? now that Canada has won some medals, you like to associate with them, eh? :) but kya karein, we [Indians] surely should be more than ashamed of ourselves.
August 30th, 2004 at 6:56 pm reply
From what I have seen, US seems to have more contenders for a given sport when compared to other countries. I could be wrong, but if yes,I guess it should also be taken into consideration.
The post is a good analysis..but you know what they say abt statistics….There are three kind of lies…lies, damn lies and statistics:D.
August 30th, 2004 at 7:21 pm reply
Queer - US makes a foray in a new sport every time be it diving, taekwondo, gymnastics or fencing…I guess, that is to avoid relying on its fave sports every time.
August 31st, 2004 at 3:51 am reply
Stats namaha!
August 31st, 2004 at 9:37 am reply
Aar - thatat stu!
October 20th, 2004 at 7:27 pm reply
Hey, didn’t know you are in Atlanta. Shapira was advisor of my previous roommate, Sushanta Mohapatra. In fact, I still use the couch that Shapira handed down to us :-)
October 21st, 2004 at 1:34 pm reply
Niket - I knew Sushant very well…was a yr senior to me..glad to know that the world is indeed a small place :)