Research on the development of science has focused on the creation of multidisciplinary teams. However, while this coming together of people is symmetrical, the ideas, methods, and vocabulary of science have a directional flow. We present a statistical model of the text of dissertation abstracts from 1980 to 2010, revealing for the first time the large-scale flow of language across fields. Results of the analysis include identifying methodological fields that export broadly, emerging topical fields that borrow heavily and expand, and old topical fields that grow insular and retract. Particular findings show a growing split between molecular and ecological forms of biology and a sea change in the humanities and social sciences driven by the rise of gender and ethnic studies.

中文翻译：

---

绘制学术界三个十年的知识变革

对科学发展的研究侧重于创建多学科团队。然而，尽管人们的这种聚集是对称的，但科学的思想、方法和词汇却是有方向的。我们提出了 1980 年至 2010 年论文摘要文本的统计模型，首次揭示了跨领域的大规模语言流动。分析的结果包括确定广泛输出的方法论领域，大量借用和扩展的新兴主题领域，以及变得孤立和收缩的旧主题领域。特别的发现表明，生物学的分子和生态形式之间的分歧越来越大，而在性别和种族研究兴起的推动下，人文和社会科学发生了翻天覆地的变化。