TIME named the U.S. Scientists Men of the Year in 1960
The accomplishments of the slate of scientists that TIME chose as its 1960 Men of the Year were as broad as the spectrum of science itself. As TIME predicted, 1960 was a remarkable year in scientific progress, with much more to come in the ensuing decades.
"Building on its own past, science climbs in an ever steepening ... exponential curve," the article said. "By the very nature of that curve, 1960 was the richest of all scientific years and the years ahead must be even more fruitful." Indeed, among the accomplishments heralded or yet expected were the unraveling of the secrets of DNA, still very much in the news today, and the glamour of space science, still in its infancy in 1960 but soon to become big news.
Researched by Joan Levinstein, the Time Inc. Research Center