Out of 736 Nobel Prize winners in science and economics, 702 are “part of the same academic family.” Only 32 researchers out of this network have won the Nobel Prize.

English physicist, John W. Strutt (1842-1919) won the Nobel in 1904. Strutt’s student J. J. Thomson (1856-1940) won the Nobel in 1906. Thomson’s nine students won the Nobel Prize and went on to train many more Nobel prize winners. 228 Nobel laureates are connected to Stutt.

“Almost 54% of all Nobel prizes were awarded to people in North America. And if you’re born anywhere else, the best option for winning a Nobel so far has been to move there.” A simple explanation for this incestuous network is that Nobel laureates can nominate candidates for the prize. Guess who they’d nominate? Of course, people they know. If you want to win a Nobel, find a Nobel laureate and work with them. https://nature.com/immersive/d41586-024-02897-2/index.html

Here’s an article on a similar kind of network in the field of mathematics.