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The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in
History is a 1978 book by Michael H. Hart.
It is a ranking of the 100 people who most influenced human history. Since
publication the book has been hotly debated and its concept widely copied.
His criterion was 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 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. What
mainly surprised readers was the first person on Hart's list. Hart decided
to choose Muhammad over Jesus or Moses despite the fact that Islam was not
the largest religion and that it was from a distant part of the world from
where he lived. Hart attributes this to the fact that Muhammad was
successful in both the religious and political realms. He also writes that
Muhammad's role in the development of Islam is far more influential than
Jesus's collaboration in the development of Christianity. He attributes
the development of Christianity to St. Paul, who played a pivotal role in
the dissemination of Christianity. In addition, Hart wrote a 'sequel' in
1999, entitled A View From The Year 3000, in which he writes from the
perspective of a person from that year ranking the most influential people
in history. Roughly half of those entries are fictitious people from
2000-3000, but roughly half are actual people, most of whom are taken from
the 1992 edition, though many have been reranked in order. |
