<P> Hirsch suggested that, for physicists, a value for h of about 12 might be typical for advancement to tenure (associate professor) at major (US) research universities . A value of about 18 could mean a full professorship, 15--20 could mean a fellowship in the American Physical Society, and 45 or higher could mean membership in the United States National Academy of Sciences . </P> <P> For the most highly cited scientists in the period 1983--2002, Hirsch identified the top 10 in the life sciences (in order of decreasing h): Solomon H. Snyder, h = 191; David Baltimore, h = 160; Robert C. Gallo, h = 154; Pierre Chambon, h = 153; Bert Vogelstein, h = 151; Salvador Moncada, h = 143; Charles A. Dinarello, h = 138; Tadamitsu Kishimoto, h = 134; Ronald M. Evans, h = 127; and Axel Ullrich, h = 120 . Among 36 new inductees in the National Academy of Sciences in biological and biomedical sciences in 2005, the median h - index was 57 . However, he points out that values of h will vary between different fields . </P> <P> Among the 22 scientific disciplines listed in the Thomson Reuters Essential Science Indicators Citation Thresholds (thus excluding non-science academics), physics has the second most citations after space science . During the period January 1, 2000--February 28, 2010, a physicist had to receive 2073 citations to be among the most cited 1% of physicists in the world . The threshold for space science is the highest (2236 citations), and physics is followed by clinical medicine (1390) and molecular biology & genetics (1229). Most disciplines, such as environment / ecology (390), have fewer scientists, fewer papers, and fewer citations . Therefore, these disciplines have lower citation thresholds in the Essential Science Indicators, with the lowest citation thresholds observed in social sciences (154), computer science (149), and multidisciplinary sciences (147). </P> <P> Numbers are very different in social science disciplines: The Impact of the Social Sciences team at London School of Economics found that social scientists in the United Kingdom had lower average h - indices . The h - indices for ("full") professors, based on Google Scholar data ranged from 2.8 (in law), through 3.4 (in political science), 3.7 (in sociology), 6.5 (in geography) and 7.6 (in economics). On average across the disciplines, a professor in the social sciences had an h - index about twice that of a lecturer or a senior lecturer, though the difference was the smallest in geography . </P>

Who has the highest h index in the world