My take on it is (and I'm Jewish myself) we rode on the back of the German/European industrial and scientific revolution. Our population is historically educated and literate, but not scientific. Some parts were wealthy due to a strong history of trading and finance. It was an affluent and succesful, if minority, part of the pre-WW1 European population. As Europe succeded at science - so did the Jews. Bring on the rise of facism in Germany, and you get the Jews who could, leaving and going to other place - most notibly the USA. So.. you take them to a well-funded, scientific favourable country and they keep winning Nobel prizes. Nuclear bombs and rocket science.. perfected in the USA with European talent driving it.

I don't actually think you'll see it happen anymore; as jobs in science aren't as favourable within the Jewish community (outside of Israel) as they have been.