Nobel laureates are far more likely than other scientists to have a hobby unrelated to their work and tend to do more multidisciplinary work, as elite athletes sample widely before they specialise.

Compared to other scientists, for instance, Nobel laureates are at least twenty-two times more likely to have a hobby (usually artistic) unrelated to their work. They also tend to do more multidisciplinary work and progress more slowly early in their careers — a pattern mirrored by elite athletes, who usually go through a “sampling period” of diverse experience, and delay narrow specialization.