The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History
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| File:The 100 Cover.jpg The cover of the 1992 edition. | |
| Author | Michael H. Hart |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | 1st Edition (1978) 2nd Edition (1992) |
| Subject | History |
| Genre | Non-Fiction |
| Published | 1978 (Hart Publishing company) |
| Media type | |
| ISBN | 9780806513508 |
| OCLC | 644066940 |
The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History is a 1978 book by Michael H. Hart, a self-described white separatist.[1] It was reprinted in 1992 with revisions.It is a ranking of the 100 people who, according to Hart, most influenced human history.[2]
The first person on Hart's list is the Prophet of Islam Muhammad,[3] a selection that generated some controversy.[4] Hart asserted that Muhammad was "supremely successful" in both the religious and secular realms. He also believed that Muhammad's role in the development of Islam was far more influential than Jesus' collaboration in the development of Christianity. He attributes the development of Christianity to St. Paul, who played a pivotal role in its dissemination.
The 1992 revisions included the demotion of figures associated with Communism, such as Vladimir Lenin and Mao Zedong, and the introduction of Mikhail Gorbachev. Hart took sides in the Shakespearean authorship issue and substituted Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford for William Shakespeare. Hart also substituted Niels Bohr and Henri Becquerel with Ernest Rutherford, thus correcting an error in the first edition. Henry Ford was also promoted from the "Honorary Mentions" list, replacing Pablo Picasso. Finally, some of the rankings were re-ordered, although no one listed in the top ten changed position.
Hart wrote another book in 1999, entitled A View from the Year 3000,[5] voiced in the perspective of a person from that future year and ranking the most influential people in history. Roughly half of those entries are fictional people from 2000–3000, but the remainder are actual people. These were taken mostly from the 1992 edition, with some re-ranking of order.
Hart's Top 10 (from the 1992 edition)
| Rank | Name | Time Frame | Image | Occupation | Influence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Muhammad | c. 570–632 | 
|
Secular and religious leader | The central human figure of Islam, regarded by Muslims as a prophet of God and the last messenger. Active as a social reformer, diplomat, merchant, philosopher, orator, legislator, military leader, humanitarian, philanthropist. |
| 2 | Isaac Newton | 1643–1727 | 
|
Scientist | English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian. His law of universal gravitation and three laws of motion laid the groundwork for classical mechanics. |
| 3 | Jesus Christ | 7–2 BC – 26–36 AD | 
|
Spiritual leader | The central figure of Christianity, revered by Christians as the Son of God and the incarnation of God. Also regarded as a major prophet in Islam. |
| 4 | Buddha | 563–483 BC | 
|
Spiritual leader | Spiritual teacher and philosopher from ancient India. Founder of Buddhism and is also considered a Gautama Buddha in Hinduism. |
| 5 | Confucius | 551–479 BC | 
|
Philosopher | Chinese thinker and social philosopher, founder of Confucianism, whose teachings and philosophy have deeply influenced Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese and Indonesian thought and life. |
| 6 | Paul of Tarsus | 5–67 AD | 
|
Christian apostle | One of the most notable of early Christian missionaries, credited with proselytizing and spreading Christianity outside of Palestine (mainly to the Romans) and author of numerous letters of the New Testament of the Bible. |
| 7 | Cài Lún | 50–121 AD | 
|
Political official in imperial China | Widely regarded as the inventor of paper and the papermaking process. |
| 8 | Johannes Gutenberg | 1398–1468 | 
|
Inventor | German printer who invented the European mechanical printing press. |
| 9 | Christopher Columbus | 1451–1506 | 
|
Explorer | Italian navigator, colonizer and explorer whose voyages led to general European awareness of the American continents. |
| 10 | Albert Einstein | 1879–1955 | 
|
Scientist | German-born theoretical physicist, best known for his theory of relativity and specifically mass–energy equivalence, expressed by the equation E = mc2. |
See also
References
- ^ Interview with Michael H. Hart by Russell K. Neili, April 14, 2000. Carol M. Swain; Russ Nieli (24 March 2003). Contemporary Voices of White Nationalism in America. Cambridge University Press. p. 201. ISBN 978-0-521-81673-1. "I (like other white separatists) resent being called a white supremacist."
- ^ Michael H. Hart The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History. first published in 1978, reprinted with minor revisions 1992. ISBN 978-0-8065-1068-2
- ^ The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History
- ^ Alphonse Dougan, "Understanding Prophet Muhammad Beyond the Stereotypes", The Fountain, Issue 46 (April-June 2004).
- ^ Michael H. Hart. A view from the year 3000: a ranking of the 100 most influential persons of all time; first published in 1999