The 100: A Ranking of The Most Influential Persons in History



Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Introduction PAGEREF _Toc405329731 \h 2About the author: PAGEREF _Toc405329732 \h 3Review: PAGEREF _Toc405329733 \h 4Criticism: PAGEREF _Toc405329734 \h 6Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc405329735 \h 7Appendix 1 PAGEREF _Toc405329736 \h 8Time Line of Personalities: PAGEREF _Toc405329737 \h 8Appendix 2 PAGEREF _Toc405329738 \h 13Table of Brief Summery PAGEREF _Toc405329739 \h 13Bibliography PAGEREF _Toc405329740 \h 21Introduction“The 100: A ranking of most influential persons in history” written by "Michael H. Hart" is a biographical sketch of 100 persons. These hundred personalities in the history of the world which changes the course of mankind in their respected fields of life. This book was published in 1978 under the publishing house “Carol Publishing Group”. This selected list of persons categorizes into four types of group which are as fallow:Prophets\ Religious LeadersPolitical\ Military Leaders Entrepreneurs\ Scientists\ InventorsTeachers\ Artists\ Writers These individuals mentioned in this book show their height of professional expertise and as well as their leadership abilities. This book ranked these individual through the success in their respected field in the eyes of the writer. About the authorMichael H. Hart (born on 28th April 1932) is an American astrophysicist commonly known for his 1978 book “The 100: A ranking of most influential persons in history. This book has brought Michael both fame and criticism. He is mainly criticized for his selection of personalities and his criteria of selection of those personalities but irrespective of this criticism his book has managed to sell more than 500,000 copies and is being translated in 15 languages. His other notable work is “A view from the year 3000”.ReviewAt the first place writing a book is a difficult task and then writing on history is even tougher but if the book talks about the most influential 100 persons of the human history the task becomes more difficult. Michael H. Hart has tried his hand on all of the above tasks. When you talk of the 100 most influential persons it becomes difficult for you to pick whom as you pick some and you drop some so, the critics ask the criteria for selection; the main reason for selecting a person to the list. I have gone through this book and I have concluded this that Michael H. Hart’s criteria were leadership. The selection of Holy Prophet (S.A.W) as the most influential person in the human history above Moses also known as Hazrat Moosa (A.S) and Jesus also known as Hazrat Isa (A.S) is its ample proof . Michael H. Hart justifies the inclusion of Hazrat Muhammad (S.A.W) by saying that He was the only man in the human history that was successful on both religious and secular level. Although he has faced allot of criticism for that but the logic he has presented is rational and acceptable. The inclusion of Adolf Hitler at number 39 further strengthens my argument. There is no hiding in the fact that Hitler was the most cruelest dictator known to the human history but at the same time after seizing power in no time he orchestrated the rise of a nation that just a few years ago was the orphan of the world and has lost a world war. It is mainly due to the leadership of Hitler that the Germans resurged and take on the world in the Second World War. Oliver Cromwell also finds himself in the list; a military leader during the British Civil war who played a major role in dethroning of the king and assumed power as the protectorate of United Kingdom. Genghis Khan the ruthless Mongol sits even above Hitler and Cromwell in Michael H. Hart’s list of most influential people. He has not only added these fearsome people to his list on the basis of leadership nonetheless all the other entrants to fulfill the criteria of being a leader in their respective fields. Michael H. Hart has set the criteria of leadership for each and every individual on his list whether he or she is a scientist, religious leader, political figure or a Monarch all of them must possess leadership qualities. All of these persons have changed the course of history. Scientist like Newton, Einstein, Wright Brothers, Watt and Walton with their inventions and discoveries led the humans into unprecedented and unimagined frontiers. Political thinkers and philosophers like Marx, Plato, Adam Smith, Rousseau and Machiavelli open new doors of wisdom for the human race and gave them new ideas to ponder upon. Artistes like Michelangelo, Shakespeare, Beethoven, and Bach produced such artifacts that took human imagination to new levels of creativity. All these persons in one way or the other have inter twined their leadership qualities with their natural abilities and simply created history. So, whatever I understand all these persons are not added because how these persons are remembered by the history but these persons are part of this list because how they have led their way in to history. CriticismThis book is an interesting piece of literature and the writer also has used very exciting manner of writing while explaining the personalities on the list which keep the reader glued to the book but the book contains certain errors which cannot be tolerated especially if you are a Muslim. According to the writer Michael H. Hart, Hazrat Muhammad (S.A.W) was the author of Holy Quran that is totally false assumption and is blasphemy of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W). Quran is a Holy Book of Islam which was revealed to Holy Prophet (S.A.W) by Allah Almighty but Michael H. Hart also said the same for Hazrat Moosa (A.S) which shows that he lacks in religious understanding or his source is faulty. Any how he should amend these errors from his book so that this wrong assumption do not become a source of constant pungency for the followers of both the Holy figures. ConclusionIn the overall, this book is not Western European inclined, even though a great deal of influence on the world came from Western Europe according to the author. Out of the leaders focused in the book, 18 are from Asia, 4 are from Africa and South America each. The book as a whole is interesting book as emphasis of the book is on the individual's influence. This author did his best and it is very thought provoking. He does voice his own speculations and misgivings and why he decided on the selections, whether we agree or not with it, it is fascinating. Appendix 1Time Line of Personalities: Appendix 2Table of Brief SummeryBibliographyHart, Michael. J. (1992, January). The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History. awakening-intuition. Retrieved from http: , Michael. J. (1992, January). The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History. Carol Publishing Group, p xxxiii. ................
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