As mentioned in the OP, this list is based on Michael Hart’s book The 100: The One Hundred Most Influential Persons in History. I’ve kept track of all rounds, of course, and have compiled a master list of all 100 names and how they fared in this contest…
As I tabulated the rounds, I kept tabs on how the people were faring on the overall list by the simple expedient of assuming that each round consisted of a vote of 5 people who will fall consecutively in the final list - for example, round 1 brought us the names of persons # 96-100, round 2 brought us the names of 91-95, etc.
To determine the rankings within the rounds, I used the original Hart ranking.
Using this method, here is the SDMB top-100:
Rank, Name, (Original Hart Rank, Change from Hart Rank (negative is losing places viz Hart, positive is gaining spots viz Hart))
**100. Mahavira (100, 0)
99. Mencius (92, -7)
98. Gregory Pincus (82, -16)
97. John F Kennedy (81, -16)
96. Sigmund Freud (69, -27)
95. Menes (96, 1)
94. Vasco de Gama (86, -8)
93. Mani (83, -10)
92. Thomas Malthus (80, -12)
91. William Harvey (55, -36)
90. Johann Sebastian Bach (72, -18)
89. Francisco Pizarro (62, -27)
88. Gregor Mendel (58, -30)
87. Simon Bolivar (48, -39)
86. Oliver Cromwell (41, -45)
85. Zoraster (93, 8)
84. Jean-Jacques Rosseau (78, -6)
83. William Conrad Roentgen (71, -12)
82. Shi Huang Di (17, -65)
81. Christopher Columbus (9, -72)
80. Justinian I (99, 19)
79. Mikhail Gorbachev (95, 16)
78. Hernando Cortes (63, -15)
77. Rene Descrates (49, -28)
76. Werner Heisenberg (46, -30)
75. Homer (98, 23)
74. Queen Isabella I (65, -9)
73. Pope Urban II (51, -22)
72. Alexander Graham Bell (42, -30)
71. Antonine Laurent Lavoisier (20, -51)
70. Peter the Great (88, 18)
69. Leonhard Euler (77, 8)
68. John Calvin (57, -11)
67. Ludwig von Beethoven (45, -22)
66. Orville and Wilbur Wright (28, -38)
65. Charlemagne (97, 32)
64. Voltaire (74, 10)
63. Asoka (53, -10)
62. William TG Morton (37, -25)
61. James Clerk Maxwell (24, -37)
60. Queen Elizabeth I (94, 34)
59. Nicoli Machiavelli (79, 20)
58. St Augustine (54, -4)
57. Louis Dagurre (47, -10)
56. Galileo Galilei (12, -44)
55. Henry Ford (91, 36)
54. ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (52, -2)
53. Michelangelo (50, -3)
52. Adolf Hitler (39, -13)
51. Nicolas Copernicus (19, -32)
50. Cyrus the Great (87, 37)
49. Enrico Fermi (76, 27)
48. Lao Tzu (73, 25)
47. Nikolaus August Otto (61, 14)
46. Constantine the Great (21, -25)
45. Thomas Jefferson (64, 19)
44. Ernest Rutherford (56, 12)
43. Gugilemo Marconi (38, -5)
42. Alexander the Great (33, -9)
41. Martin Luther (25, -16)
40. Francis Bacon (90, 50)
39. Mao Zedong (89, 50)
38. Joseph Lister (60, 22)
37. John Dalton (32, -5)
36. Buddha (4, -32)
35. Johannes Kepler (75, 40)
34. Josef Stalin (66, 32)
33. John Locke (44, 11)
32. Antony van Leeuwenhoek (36, 4)
31. Moses (15, -16)
30. William the Conquerer (68, 38)
29. Max Planck (59, 30)
28. Alexander Fleming (43, 15)
27. Adam Smith (30, 3)
26. Jesus Christ (3, -23)
25. Edward Jenner (70, 45)
24. Napoleon Bonaparte (34, 10)
23. William Shakespeare (31, 8)
22. Michael Faraday (23, 1)
21. St Paul (6, -15)
20. Julius Caesar (67, 47)
19. Karl Marx (27, 8)
18. Louis Pasteur (11, -7)
17. Ts’ai Lun (7, -10)
16. Lenin (84, 68)
15. Thomas Edison (35, 20)
14. Charles Darwin (16, 2)
13. Confucius (5, -8)
12. Sui Wen Ti (85, 73)
11. Plato (40, 29)
10. James Watt (22, 12)
9. Euclid (14, 5)
8. Genghis Khan (29, 21)
7. Albert Einstein (10, 3)
6. George Washington (26, 20)
5. Mohammed (1, -4)
4. Augustus Caesar (18, 14)
3. Aristotle (13, 10)
2. Johann Gutenberg (8, 6)
- Isaac Newton (2, 1)**
The Biggest Loser
Christopher Columbus. Dropped 72 places, from 9 to 81. The attitude of the SDMB seems to be “So you sailed west. Big deal.” It is hard to argue against that…
The Biggest Gainer
Sui Wen Ti, going from 85 to 12, gaining 73 spaces mostly based on (I suspect) our collective ignorance of Chinese history and a sense of not wanting to cast out the last Chinese until as late as possible (he and Confucius were voted out in consecutive rounds).
In Which the SDMB and Michael Hart Reached Mutual Consensus and Understanding
100, Mahavira (Founder of Jainism)
In short, not much.
My Thoughts
At times, there were three names that I thought had a good chance of winning it all - Euclid, Aristotle, and Newton. Newton was who I expected to be on top from the get-go, and I wasn’t surprised that he won out.
What I was surprised about was how far Johann Gutenberg went - It’s not that I considered his press uninfluential (I actually consider it the greatest invention of the past 1,000 years, and possibly the most influential since language/writing), I figured that enough people would use the “China did it first” argument to lessen Gutenberg’s standing. That they didn’t was a pleasant surprise.
I still think that Bach is far more influential than where he placed - I would have him as the second most important artistic figure behind Shakespeare.
Also, the quickness of the explorer’s exit was not at all a shock - all of the explorers (Pizarro, Columbus, Cortes, de Gama) lost rank viz-a-viz Hart.
Weakest category was Leaders.
Who should have been on
Did this one in the middle of this monstrosity, but now that it’s all over, if there are names we think should be on the list, go ahead and post them. Here were mine (IIRC):
- John Rockefeller (Standard Oil)
- Norman Borlaug (Green Revolution)
- Shockley, Brittain, Bardeen (Inventors of the transistor)
more to come…