Almost certainly elderly scientists in particular; if he meant a general statement then the juxtaposition with the previous sentence is very odd. Also there's t

Almost certainly elderly scientists in particular; if he meant a general statement then the juxtaposition with the previous sentence is very odd. Also there's this (paraphrased from memory) quote in Rendezvous with Rama: "even after hundreds of years, science never solved the problem of having elderly, conservative scientists at the helm of its governing bodies".