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There were some places and teachers who did turn out lots of top flightYes, but we should question closely whether it was the place or the
students. Rutherford and Thomson did, and many of the early quantum
theorists in Germany did.
teacher that "turns them out". Cambridge (both of them) attracts and
accepts the brightest--it is not surprising, if they can do a reasonable
job of admissions, that they turn out the best. Brilliance in, brilliance
out!
Whether the *teaching* makes any difference is totally unknown, so far as I
can see. For all we know, being there and spending time with the other
brightest students in the country, perhaps the world, may compensate for
the negative effects of the teaching! The same may hold for Gottingen and
Heidelberg in their prime, as for Padua in the sixteenth century.