The Matthew effect: Why famous scientists keep getting more famous

Scientists who win Nobel Prizes become "visible scientists" — getting "almost bulletproof prestige and a reputation that can open just about any door," writes Massimiano Bucchi in The MIT Press Reader. This phenomenon, says Bucchi, is a an example of the "Matthew effect," named after (Matthew 25:29): "For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him that hath not, shall be taken away even that which he hath."