Is disruption decreasing, or is it accelerating? That depends. With the exponential growth in scientific publications, the chance that an individual scientist might be highly disruptive in their field is decreasing. Collectively, however, the overall level of disruption in science—the influence of new findings that tend to overtake previous understandings—is as strong or stronger than it was fifty years ago. In other words, the world of science is as disruptive as ever, even if each individual’s place in that expanding world is shrinking. Read More