The 100

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Image:The 100 Cover.jpg In 1978, Michael H. Hart published a book called The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History. His book was a ranking of the 100 people who, in his opinion, most influenced human history. His book was hotly debated, and his book concept widely copied. It is important to note that Dr. Hart is not ranking the greatest people. His only criterion is influence.

The book was reprinted in 1992 with several notable revisions made to the original list of 100 people and their associated rankings. Chief among these revisions was the demotion of figures associated with Communism, such as Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin, 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, while the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, kept the rank one position.

1 Hart's Top 15 (from the 1992 edition)
2 Subjectivity
3 Further reading
4 Other lists
5 External links

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Hart's Top 15 (from the 1992 edition)

Rank	Name	Influence
1	Muhammad	Prophet of Islam
2	Isaac Newton	physicist, theory of universal gravitation, laws of motion, major developments in mathematics, optics, thermodynamics
3	Jesus Christ	central figure of Christianity
4	Buddha	founder of Buddhism
5	Confucius	founder of Confucianism
6	St. Paul	proselytizer of Christianity
7	Ts'ai Lun	inventor of paper
8	Johann Gutenberg	developed movable type and made great advances in printing
9	Christopher Columbus	explorer, led Europe to Americas via southern passage
10	Albert Einstein	physicist, relativity, Einsteinian physics
11	Louis Pasteur	scientist, pasteurization, Germ Theory
12	Galileo Galilei	astronomer, accurately described heliocentric solar system, led way to Newton's work
13	Aristotle	Greek philosopher
14	Euclid	Greek mathematician, Euclidean geometry, author of various influential theories
15	Moses	major prophet of Judaism and leader

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Subjectivity

Both the selection of the 100 individuals and their ranking in relationship to each other are highly subjective enterprises. While Hart makes an effort to justify his selection and ordering, he makes it clear that both are entirely his own opinion.

Hart admits that any assessment of historical significance depends on a perspective which only time can provide. To rate the historical importance of contemporary figures is almost impossible, while in other cases ranking will depend on an individual's assessment of the relative importance of the fields of scientific, cultural and religious endeavour.

A striking example is the Italian campaign of Hannibal and his eventual defeat by Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus. Had Hannibal succeeded, the Roman Empire would probably never have existed, and the entire development of Western European civilization (and eventually civilization on a global scale) might have taken a radically different course. The historical contribution of both commanders is minor in comparison to someone like Julius Caesar, but the influence of their actions on history is possibly one of the most crucial of all time.

Hart makes this point in the book where he points out that prior to the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Vladimir Lenin was ranked much higher on the list.

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