“culture takes primacy over the individual in any account of human (behavior), and that historic geniuses are no exception…” To prove his thesis, Kroeber collected “long lists of notable figures from several nationalities and historic eras”, and then grouped them within a field and a shared cultural context, e.g., “Configuration for American Literature”. Then within these groupings he listed his notables in “strict chronological order”, identifying the most eminent figures by using capital letters for their surnames (e.g. EMERSON, LONGFELLOW, POE, WHITMAN, etc. in above configuration). Kroeber found that genius never appeared in isolation, but rather, in Simonton's words, that “one genius cluster(ed) with others of greater and lesser fame in adjacent generations”. He also found that there were historical “crests” and “troughs” in every field. These fluctuations in the appearance of genius were much too rapid to be explained by the simple mechanism of genetic inheritance along family lines. Kroeber argued, in Simonton's words, that his “configurations” were due to “emulations”: “Geniuses cluster in history because the key figures of one generation emulate those in the immediately preceding generations… (until) it attains a high point of perfection that stymies further growth”. At this point the “tradition degenerates into empty imitation, as most creative minds move on to greener pastures”. Recent research is consistent with these explanations; but many aspects of the developmental process from birth to the attainment of greatness remain unaccounted for by Kroeber's anthropological approach. Developmental approaches Retrospective studies, involving extensive interviews with individuals who have attained eminence, or at least exceptional levels of achievement, have added much to our understanding of the developmental process. Two studies in particular stand out. Scientific Elite – Zuckerman (1977) Harriet Zuckerman’s Scientific Elite: Nobel Laureates in the United States, is based on many sources of research evidence, including a series of forty-one extended interviews with American winners of the Nobel Prize for science. Zuckerman reported her results around two main topics: How the Prize is Awarded, and Career Development of the Scientific Elite. Her findings on the first topic are briefly overviewed in the Wikipedia article regarding the Nobel Prize In relation to the question of the career development of the scientific elite Zuckerman uses the phrase "accumulation of advantage" to describe her findings. In her words: "Scientists who show promise early in their careers (are) given greater opportunities in the way of research training and facilities. To the extent