Sian L. Beilock has used golf putting in her research into pressure and skill performance. (Photograph by John Zich)

Physicist Todd M. Squires, who studies the movements of tiny drops of fluid, received offers in four fields and decided to stay in California, in part, he says, for its "lifestyle." (Photograph by Tim Rue)

Joshua Knobe, a philosopher, sits in New York's Washington Square Park, where he surveyed passers-by for a project on morality. (Photograph by Frank Fournier)

Benjamin A. Olken, an economist, directed a half-a-million-dollar research project on corruption in Indonesia. (Photograph by Nadaa Taiyab)