  What is the relationship between aging and the character of scientific
advance? Prior research focuses on star scientists, their changing dates, and
rates of breakthrough success through history. Analyzing more than 244 million
scholars across 241 million articles over the last two centuries, we show that
for all fields, periods, and impact levels, scientists research ideas and
references age over time, their research is less likely to disrupt the state of
science and more likely to criticize emerging work. Early success accelerates
scientist aging; while changing institutions and fields and collaborating with
young scientists slows it. These patterns aggregate within fields such that
those with a higher proportion of older scientists experience a lower churn of
ideas and more rapid individual aging, suggesting a universal link between
aging, activity, and advance.
