Trump is driving American scientists into Europe’s arms

But the continent will have to invest more to lure top talent

John von Neumann and Albert Einstein were part of a wave of great scientists who fled Nazi Germany, went to America and created new fields of research. The effect on innovation by American scientists was vast. Patenting in chemistry increased by 71%, according to research by Fabian Waldinger, then of Warwick University, and co-authors. America later built on its huge wartime scientific boom to win technological races against its new communist rivals. For decades, America’s immense investment in research lured Europe’s best scientific talent across the Atlantic.

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Draining brains”

From the March 29th 2025 edition

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