Don't cite anybody over 30?

Source: SPIRES (http://www.slac.stanford.edu/library/topcites/2003/alltime.shtml)

A common assertion is that the best work in physics is done by people who are under 30. Is it true? This chart shows the ages of authors at the date of publication of the top 25 theoretical papers from the SPIRES all-time top-cited list. Included are the 29 authors whose ages are in the database. Some appear more than once as authors on multiple papers.

Half the authors were 32 or younger when they published their famous papers. The chart shows that the most frequent ages are 29 and 30. In fact, almost half the ages are concentrated around the window of 29-30. 

Heath O'Connell, Fermilab

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