mcpon Posted December 19, 2007 Report Share Posted December 19, 2007 (edited) I know you guys already have a most influential scientist & historical leader threads, so I apologize if this thread seems too similar to those. But after I read Michael Hart's list, I decided to come up with my own. I know that some of the entries are questionable. But who would you guys put on your list? Who do you think is the most influential people?? And, lastly, I tried the search and didn't find a thread exactly like this one, so sorry if this thread is just a repeat. # Mohammed # Jesus of Nazareth # Aristotle # Tsai Lun (credited with the invention of paper) # Johann Gutenberg # Paul of Tarsus # Shih Huang Ti # Louis Pasteur # Plato # Siddhartha Guatama # Confucius # Abraham (reportedly the founder of Judaism) # Isaac Newton # Sri Krishna (since I included Abraham, I'm going to include him too, his historiocity wasn't challenged until Christian missionaries did so) # Euclid # Tim Berners Lee (invented the world wide web (with help)) # Adolf Hitler # James Watt / Matthew Boulton (Watt invented it, but Boulton manufactured it and made it into big business) # Constantine I (the Great) # Genghis Kahn # Thomas Edison # Karl Marx # Alexander the Great # Nikolai Tesla (invented the radio as found by the Supreme Court & pioneered AC polyphase power distribution system) # Christopher Columbus # Hernan Cortes # Nicolas Copernicus # Socrates (just because of his reputation) # Philo T. Farnsworth (invented electronic television that most closely resembles contemporary ones) # Asoka (for turning Buddhism from a tiny sect into a world religion, brought Mauryan empire to largest land extent) # Moses # Augustus Caesar # Gavrilo Princip (unwittingly, triggered the two World Wars and Cold War) # Albert Einstein # Henry Bessemer # Sui Wen Ti (reunified China) # Martin Luther # Umar ibn al-Khattab (greatly expanded the Islamic empire outside of Saudi Arabia and most responsible for establishing the Islamic government of today, and most of his conquests have stayed Muslim) # Pope Urban II (his speech ignited the Crusades) # Sigmund Freud # Saint Augustine of Hippo # Charles Darwin # St. Thomas Aquinas # Alexander Graham Bell (telephone would have been invented anyways without him, but still beat Gray to it) # Nikolas August von Otto # Al-Khwarizmi / Leonardo Fibonacci (for their parts in getting the West to adopt the Hindu-Arabic numeral system that is used by most countries in the world today (along with their other influences on math)) # Galileo Galilei # Charlemagne # Queen Isabella & Ferdinand # Zayd ibn Thabit (prepared the "definitive" version of the Koran as commissioned (Sunni view)) # Karl Benz (built the first automobile) # William the Conqueror # Napoleon # Lao Tse # Zoroaster # Galen (his emphasis on investigation and observation influenced Arabic science and he was the leading medical authority in the west for around 1400 years) # Charles Babbage / Howard Aiken (Aiken's model was based on Babbage's design) # Wilbur & Orville Wright (Wright brothers) # Bardeen, Brattain, Shockley (invented the transistor) # Julius Caesar # Cyrus II (the Great) # Menes (started the dynastic tradition of Egypt) # George Washington # Saints Clement of Ohrid, Cyrill, and Methodius (for their contributions in the development of the Cyrillic alphabet) # William Shakespeare # Jack Kilby / Robert Noyce (for inventing the silicon chip) # John Locke # Sir Alexander Fleming # Francisco Pizarro # Muawiya I (of the Umayyad dynasty) # Michael Faraday (eletric motor, etc.) # Adi Sankara (revived Hinduism after Buddhism and Jainism were starting to take over Southeast Asia) # Vladimir Lenin # Simon Bolivar # Maharshi Veda Vyasa (credited with the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita) # Mencius # Richard Arkwright # Mao Zedong # Ibn Firnas / Salvino D'Armati / Alessandro Spina (supposed inventors of reading stones and eyeglasses, respectively; Spina made it known) # Madhavira # Nagarjuna # John Calvin # Leo Baekeland (invented the first "real" plastic) # Mani # Edward Jenner / Lady Montagu # Louis Daguerre / Joseph Niepce (would have happened anyways, but still beat Fox Talbot to it) # Adam Smith # Alessandro Volta # Han Wu Ti ("martial emperor" not the other one) # Johann Karl Frederich Gauss # Homer (wrote Greece's national epic poems) # Carl von Linde (for his contribution to the field of refrigeration) # Queen Elizabeth I # Sulieman the Great # Vinton Cerf (often regarded as the "father of the Internet") # Ibn al-Haytham (arguably, the "first real modern scientist") # Zhu Xi # Tribonian (codified Roman Law, under Justinian I) # James Watson, Francis Crick, Rosalind Franklin # Ferdowsi I tried to lower the percentage of Europeans / Americans on the list than was on Hart's list. His had around 80 percent. I got it down to around 70 percent. And I also tried to emphasize people that influenced the late 20th century technologically (which made me end up with more Americans than I wanted) since Hart's list came out in the 1970's. And I also tried to balance out people before the modern age (Middle Ages & before) with those of the modern age. I'm biased against the arts because I don't know much about it and don't know how certain artists influenced later art. And besides, all lists like these are arbitrary and biased, even Hart's. How can it not be? Edited January 16, 2008 by mcpon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Porcius Cato Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 Adam Smith is not only the father of modern economics and responsible for the liberalization of international trade that has financed most of the big ideas on this list, Smith's idea of the "invisible hand" is precisely identical to (and a predecessor of) Darwin's idea of "natural selection." Biologists and historians of science have noted many times that Darwin's "most dangerous idea" owed its genesis to the Scottish economist Smith, and any list of the 100 most influential people in history should include Adam Smith. He was one of the greatest geniuses of an era that is humbling in its talent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcpon Posted December 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 Adam Smith is not only the father of modern economics and responsible for the liberalization of international trade that has financed most of the big ideas on this list, Smith's idea of the "invisible hand" is precisely identical to (and a predecessor of) Darwin's idea of "natural selection." Biologists and historians of science have noted many times that Darwin's "most dangerous idea" owed its genesis to the Scottish economist Smith, and any list of the 100 most influential people in history should include Adam Smith. He was one of the greatest geniuses of an era that is humbling in its talent. Informative and yeah, you're probably right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosmo Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 Richelieu, Bismarck, Stalin, Justinian, Frederick the Great, Peter the Great, Columb, prince Henric of Portugal, Deng Xiao Ping, Ghandi, Magellan, FDR, Churchill, Nasser, Stephenson, Curie, Fermi, J. St. Mill, Hegel, Herder, Kant, Toma D'Aquino, Voltaire, Nietzche, Mussolini, Lorenz, Wilhelm the II (rather then Gavrilo Princip), Adam, Eva, Cain etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nephele Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 I'm rather taken aback that (unless I missed other names) there is only one woman represented on your list -- Queen Isabella -- and she's listed in conjunction with her husband. Granted, fewer women than men have had influence on world affairs throughout history. But there nevertheless have been women who have broken the mould and had their voices heard. Whether or not you agree with and/or support the goals, views, etc. of the following, these are nevertheless women of influence whom you might add to your list: Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533-1603) - for 45 years the reigning monarch of a world power. Clara Barton (1821-1912) - founder of the American Red Cross, which today provides humanitarian services on an international level. Marie Curie (1867-1934) - termed "The Mother of Modern Physics," she pioneered research in radioactivity and was the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize (she received two, in fact). Isadora Duncan (1877-1927) - considered "The Mother of Modern Dance," she established dance schools in Germany and France and toured extensively with her troupe of young dancers, as well as individually, reviving an ancient Greek aesthetic. Ayn Rand (1905-1982) - her philosophy of Objectivism continues on well after her death, through her novels and other writings which have been translated into many languages. Marjane Satrapi (1969- ) - through her internationally acclaimed, autobiographical, graphic novels, she has become a spokesperson for Iranian women and a campaigner against totalitarianism. Earlier this year, the film adaptation of her novel, Persepolis, won an award at the Cannes Film Festival. Ayaan Hirsi Ali (1969- ) - scriptwriter of the controversial short film Submission (a critical statement about the treatment of women under Islamic rule), and freedom of speech advocate, she is currently under a death threat from Islamic extremists and living in hiding. This past September she was guest speaker at the Atheist Alliance International convention (with bodyguards, metal detectors, and a bomb-sniffing dog as security). An urgent appeal has been made by author Sam Harris for contributions to a private trust dedicated to financing her security. I could have added more, but these are starters. Anyone else here care to add to this list? EDIT: Although the last two on my list perhaps aren't yet officially a part of "history," still being alive as they are, they are nevertheless making history through their international influence. -- Nephele Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primus Pilus Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 I'm surprised that I don't see a single non-literary artist. I believe Beethoven and Bach made Hart's list, though I might include Mozart over Beethoven. Also no Michelangelo. Maybe art isn't everyone's proverbial cup of tea, but who on earth isn't aware of these people? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaius Paulinus Maximus Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 Just to add to Nephele's list, what about Mother Teresa?....... She founded the Missionaries of Charity and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her humanitarian work. For over forty years she ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying in Kolkata (Calcutta), India. As the Missionaries of Charity grew under Mother Teresa's leadership, they expanded their ministry to other countries. By the 1970s she had become internationally famed as a humanitarian and advocate for the poor and helpless. Surely she deserves a mention? Just another thought.... What about Pamela Anderson?? Those slow motion shots of her running down the beach have got to count for something???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Porcius Cato Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 (edited) Probably the most influential woman in American history was Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." After this novel, the "peculiar institution" of enslaving blacks became the "abominable institution" of human slavery. Her impact is best summarized by the (apocryphal) quip attributed to Abraham Lincoln, who met her by saying, "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war!" Edited December 20, 2007 by M. Porcius Cato Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faustus Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 One of mine, is in part a response to Nephele Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spittle Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 (edited) The list seems very abitrary. Mohammad at 1. Christ at 7, Abraham at 13..... How were these names/positions reached? Newton (at 14) said 'he saw a little further by standing on the shoulders of giants'. Did he mean the 13 above him in this list? Edited December 20, 2007 by spittle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primus Pilus Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 The list seems very abitrary. Mohammad at 1. Christ at 7, Abraham at 13..... How were these names/positions reached? I believe Hart's reasoning for Mohammad is because he was both a conqueror/political leader and the founder of a major religion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primus Pilus Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 Abraham Lincoln [i'm surprised he hasn't made the list so far, since he is known world wide as possibly the most famous figure in American history] Lincoln and Franklin were both "honorable mentions" in the original list by Hart. Jefferson was included in the original, as he should be, but is conspicuously absent from this list by mcpon. Of course, our places of origin have a major influence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faustus Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 The list seems very abitrary. at 1. Christ at 7, Abraham at 13..... How were these names/positions reached? Newton (at 14) said 'he saw a little further by standing on the shoulders of giants'. Did he mean the 13 above him in this list? Should this list be arranged in alphabetical order? Chronologically? In order of occurence in the consciousness of the population at UNRV? My own list, had it been without prior influence, would've had Christ at the top because of all that emanated out of his life in the past 2,000 years, even to including Mohammad. But my own list would've had Caesar right up there next to Christ, as I believe he (generic) produced the need for a Christ. These would've represented my own bias of Western Civilization, which would've been no more preferable. I presume? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nephele Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 I see that Michael Hart's list includes my suggestion (earlier in this topic) of Queen Elizabeth I, and also that Hart gives honorable mention to Marie Curie (whom I also suggested). Other women who received honorable mention on Hart's list are: Susan B. Anthony Betty Friedan Joan of Arc The Virgin Mary Maria Montessori Mary Wollstonecraft I'm nevertheless astounded that Hart -- or any historian compiling a list of influential people -- wouldn't have at least given honorable mention to Ayn Rand and (as MPC suggested) Harriet Beecher Stowe. -- Nephele Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaius Octavius Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 (edited) O'Higgins John-Paul II J.F. Kennedy Osama bin Laden Tom Paine Castro Ho Chi Minh John XXIII King John (Magna Carta) Henry VIII Bismark Hertzl (No particular order.) Edited December 20, 2007 by Gaius Octavius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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