I realize this is quite a controversial topic due to the all the conspiracy theories & propaganda involved etc (which is what I want to try and cut though). I am honestly wondering what rough percentage of European academics/thinkers were Jewish during this period (30 %? etc). I also wonder what the reason behind this is. Is it down to a combination of factors such as primarily residing in towns/urbanized environments which are the areas of high culture linked with universities & centers of trade etc, ostracisation on religious grounds leading the group to focus on methods of making a living in the urban environment like banking and the like, possibly creating a sort of quasi upper middle urban class heavily populated by Jews? To add to that, I read that there was a sort of population explosion among Jews in the late 19th century that would coincide with all this. To add to this, I am not entirely sure if I have a cognitive bias in the sense that I may be consciously picking out the jewish academics and not noticing the heavy contributors of other classes/groups. If this is the case what other groups/classes were heavily influential in this period regarding academics/business .

Again apologies if this is deemed controversial, I really just want to get an accurate picture of the situation during that period. I'm reminded of the Hakka among the Chinese at times.