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

The first person on Hart's list is the Prophet of Islam Muhammad,[10][11][12][13] a selection that generated some controversy.[14] 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.[15][16][17] He attributes the development of Christianity to St. Paul, who played a pivotal role in its dissemination.[15][18]

In the book, Hart did not include Abraham Lincoln in the list. 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.[4]

Hart's Top 10 (from the 1992 edition)

Rank	Name	Time Frame	Image	Occupation	Influence
1	Muhammad	c. 570–632		Political and religious leader	Founder and the central human figure of Islam, regarded by Muslims as a prophet of God and the last messenger. Also active as a social reformer, diplomat, merchant, philosopher, orator, legislator, military leader.
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 of Nazareth	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 (Siddartha Gautama)	563–483 BC		Philosopher	Spiritual teacher and philosopher from ancient India. Founder of Buddhism.
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		Inventor	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.

The book has been written in a style of ranking listed biographical articles, with writers own point of view about the subject persons. Hart deliberately detailed the life and present influences of the persons, and also added his own logic and opinion about the importance of their past role in the history and the present world.

The book was first published in 1978 as imprint from "Hart Publishing Company".[1][2] In 1992, the 2nd edition of the book was published with some changes in list's order. In its first publication, between 60,000 and 70,000 copies were sold, and the book has been translated into many languages.[19][20]

Many writers have quoted the book as a worth-reading list of the historical figures. Many Muslim writers and preachers used the reference of the book for promoting support and admiration of Muhammad and Islam.

The article in Los Angeles Times notes:[21]

The key word in this inflammatory title is "Influential," not "Greatest," and therein lies Hart's justification for including many of history's bad guys (i.e., Hitler) while ignoring many of the good guys (i.e., Mother Cabrini). Hart's ranking system may seem outrageous to some—Muhammad is ranked first, followed by Newton and then Christ—but the book is nonetheless thought-provoking and utterly absorbing.

Hart states the list is "based on what actually did occur, not what should have happened." Therefore he saw no reason to "cover up the disagreeable fact of discrimination by adding a few token women" and minorities (by U.S., not world, standards). "To be influential one needs opportunity as well as talent. If Einstein (No. 10) had come from Africa, he probably would not have invented the theory of relativity.[22] The article in Business Horizons notes: "While it is both entertaining and instructive to examine the lives of those individuals who stand out in history as giants, perhaps the greatest value of Mr. Hart's book lies in its ability to make the reader think seriously about his or her own values."[23]

The article in The Canberra Times notes: "Hart's original book had only two women in the list: Queen Isabella I at No 65, and Elizabeth I practically just squeezing in at No 94. This was disgraceful, of course. Was Hart being a sexist pig? No, but in case you weren't paying attention in class, history has been appallingly sexist. Hart obviously had no room for tokenism. (He presumably ignored calls of "Why don't you include Marie Curie or Joan of Arc, just to be a gentleman?") If you protest his inclusion of notorious figures like Hitler and Genghis Khan, or obscure ones like 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, I suggest you look up "influential" in a dictionary. If you'd prefer a nice list, with no bad guys, you'll be happy to know about Simon Montefiore's latest book, Heroes: History's Greatest Men and Women. It's not exactly a new idea, but as the "heroes" include Margaret Thatcher, it's bound to get plenty of laughs. It includes plenty of women in its ranks, so it gives us a slightly more balanced history than the real-life one covered by Hart."[24]

Positive reviews

In 1988, Hosni Mubarak, the President of Egypt, honored Michael H. Hart, the author of the book, in Cairo for naming Mohammed as the most influential person in history.[25]

Mike Barnicle wrote in The Boston Globe, "In terms of upsetting people, Michael Hart is the new champion."[26] The Washington Post asked Chaim Potok, Edwin O. Reischauer, and Barbara W. Tuchman to assess the list.[27]

• Arnie Arnesen wrote in The Boston Globe, "He brilliantly defends his choices and their ranking with pithy descriptions of each.[28] Janice Harayda wrote in The Plain Dealer, "Hart generally presents his evidence clearly, intelligently and without special pleading. This tends to give his arguments plausibility even when their conclusions are debatable".[29]

Negative reviews

Charles Solomon of the Los Angeles Times criticized the book, writing, "his jejune volume stands out as a textbook example of culutural parochialism: Hart's list includes three Africans, two women and one South American. His mini-biographies of his choices feature such arbitrary, unsubstantiated pronouncements as ...":[30] Ken McGoogan wrote in the Calgary Herald wrote, "If Michael H. Hart has done nothing else, he has demonstrated that picking a public fight can be profitable."[19]

Frederic Raphael wrote in The Sunday Times, "If it has a weakness, it is not inaccuracy (the exposition seems clear and the facts reliable), but monotony. The writing is unpretentious, but it is also po-faced. When it comes to the scientific fraternity, there is little awareness of confusions or contradictions. In Newton's case, who would guess that his rationalisation of science was accompanied, perhaps fuelled, by a belief in alchemy which took him at least to the edge of madness? Perhaps, by the same token, if Hart had not been driven by his ranking frenzy, he would not have had the energy to complete this eminently decent, marginally dotty compilation. Its only serious deficiency is the lack of even a rudimentary bibliography."[31]

Barbara W. Tuchman wrote in The Washington Post, "Mr. Hart finds it "worth noting" that his list contains only three persons who lived from the 10th to the 15th centuries. This demonstrates only Mr. Hart's limitations, not those of the Middle Ages."[32] Walter C. Langsam wrote in The Cincinnati Enquirer, "When an Enquirer editor asked me whether I would comment on Michael Hart's [book], I replied I had not read the book and, indeed, had no desire to read it. For, in my opinion, no one can rank accurately the hundred most-anything among all the men and women who have peopled the Earth since the beginning of history."

For placing Muhammad in first place of the list, the book received several controversial reviews from western critics[14][33] [34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42] [43] but the book was extremely welcomed and outburst with positive reviews in the Muslim world, and the book is often cited in the Muslim writers' book including Ayatollah Sayed Muhammad al-Shirazi, Ahmed Deedat etc.[44][45][46][47][48] In 1988, the former contemporary Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak honoured Michael Hart for placing Muhammad in first place.[25]

• Time 100
• Who's Bigger: Where Historical Figures Really Rank

• Religious Affiliation of History's 100 Most Influential People