I took the top 20 from the SDMB list and the top 20 from Hart’s list and merged them. Here they are in alphabetical order:
Albert Einstein physicist; relativity; Einsteinian physics
Antoine Laurent Lavoisier father of modern chemistry; philosopher; economist
Aristotle influential Greek philosopher
Augustus Caesar ruler
Buddha founder of Buddhism
Charles Darwin biologist; described Darwinian evolution
Christopher Columbus explorer; led Europe to Americas
Confucius founder of Confucianism
Euclid mathematician; Euclidian geometry
Galileo Galilei astronomer; accurately described heliocentric solar system
Genghis Khan SDMB 8
George Washington SDMB 6
Isaac Newton Physicst, Mathematician
James Watt SDMB 10
Jesus Christ founder of Christianity
Johann Gutenberg developed movable type; printed Bibles
Karl Marx SDMB 20
Lenin SDMB 17
Louis Pasteur scientist; pasteurization
Moses major prophet of Judaism
Mohammad Prophet of Islam; conqueror of Arabia
Nicolaus Copernicus astronomer; taught heliocentricity
Plato SDMB 11
Shih Huang Ti Chinese emperor
St Paul Judaism; Christianity
Sui Wen Ti, unified China, SDMB 13
Thomas Edison SDMB 15
Ts’ai Lun inventor of paper
Those compiling a personal top 10 list might choose from among these candidates.