Scientists 2 next to each other adjacent to a river and one adjacent to river and tree works well....put a village green and fully upgrade it front of one house and a library or university fully upgrade in front of the other. You can encircle the green and university if you wish. With the multipliers from wonders even without any GS, I was about to get 45 scientists
This would work the same with artists or merchants and their respective buildings if you wish. However in any of the games I've played actually harvesting gold or culture is virtually worthless when you compare prices of it to production, science or food on the market.