Newton
The decision was a hard one. Both of them deserve the top spot, but there can be no ties. While Newton was a genius and definitely deserves to be in the top 2, I’m voting in favor of Gutenberg for enabling thousands of geniuses.
Shoot, I thought we were still voting for the less influential person.
I vote that Gutenberg was LESS influential than Newton.
Clarification: eliminate Newton
I mean, not only did Gutenberg invent the printing press but those Police Academy movies were hysterical!
I haven’t voted yet, but this represents a last minute change of my mind:
Newton.
So, Gutenberg, what have you been doing in the last five hundred years? Still working on that moveable type? Isn’t it time to let somebody else be the most influential person in history?
Vote Change. Newton
The candidate who’ll make a difference.
“I am Isaac Newton and I approveth this message.”
Paid for the Dopers for Newton.
Newton was certainly a workhorse. But he came in rather late to the Scientific Revolution. By his time, the fundamentals of empiricism had been established by Francis Bacon and astronomy had groundbreaking work undertaken by Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler. So we can’t say that he established a way of thinking.
What was physic’s influence on technology before 1880? Beats me. Much industrial progress involved tinkering, though I understand that the science of chemistry had some influence. Edison established the first modern industrial research laboratory in the 1870s, but I understand that it was grounded more on trial and error than scientific principle.
Finally, I’d argue that some (large) set of scientists would have discovered Newton’s principles anyway by the early 1900s, making the work of Einstein et al possible.
Contrast to Guttenberg. Within 50 years something like 200 cities in Europe had printshops. And those cities with printing had substantially faster population growth than those without. Cite,esp p. 21. Guttenberg’s impact was immediate and lasting.
Eliminate Newton.
A question for everyone. I was shopping today and I saw a book about the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.
Now I’d be willing to divide them up into categories and start up a thread like this one. But only if there’s interest. So would your response be “Oh boy, the fun doesn’t stop!!!” or more like “Jesus, Nemo, enough’s enough. Let it die already.”
How about a thread where people nominate the Losers of history?
So the idea would be to build a list, instead of tearing one down.
Step one: nominate three people, with a short reason why this person is a notable loser.
Step two: pick the top five favorites for the list.
step three: every ten people selected, rank them.
Face it, such a task will take Months, if not years, and be lots of fun. Or a bit of fun.
Thanks for your interesting comments, Measure for Measure. And what do you think of Ts’ai Lun, alleged inventor of paper? He was eliminated early in this game, but Hart ranks him ahead of Gutenberg.
This thread has certainly taught me, and would affect my personal Top Ten list. How about this idea for one final, thrilling round: Each Doper submits his Top Ten list and we average to get the Grand Doper List.
Quite honestly, I never fully resolved the definitional questions in my mind. I could imagine Guttenberg speeding up the advent of the print shop from anywhere between 10 to 200 years, and it matters whether or not it was substantially more than 50.
::checks Wikipedia:: Ah yes, very important. 
That’s another worry: shouldn’t we credit the creator of, say, fire? Now there’s an influential character: you can’t do much without a source of energy can you? Arguably, Newton and The Academy of Sciences might not have existed without the printing press, but it seems that you can take this pre-condition thing too far.
All that said, the example of (the possibly legendary) Ts’ai Lun is fascinating. His formula for paper from 105 CE apparently spread to Korea, Vietnam and Japan before being transmitted by conquest to the Arabs in 751. It hit Europe in the 12 century. Note the absence of independent co-discovery during that time span. Then again, I see from here that demand for paper was modest in Europe prior to the invention of the press. That makes sense: it’s presumably a less durable product than parchment or vellum. (Indeed, 45 of the Gutenberg Bibles are printed on vellum, 135 on paper.)
It may be true that absent cheap paper, the “making of typographic man”, would not have occurred. But simply assuming that is poor economic history. Nobel Laurette Robert Fogel cut his teeth by demonstrating that simply because the US Railway dominated transportation investment after ~1860?, doesn’t imply that it was necessary for US development. Economic growth tends to be an organic process: it involves many things working out right, not just a single leading sector. Fogel posited that if the railway didn’t exist, the 2nd best technology -canals- would have become more extensive though at somewhat higher cost. (Yeah, yeah the intercontinental railway: he covered that.) Analogously, there may have been scope for expanding parchment and vellum production, until someone was blessed with sufficient incentive and insight to create paper out of rags or wood.
It was the wide-spread use of linen as underwear that provided that very bump.
Old underwear was tossed out, collected by rag men and very quickly turned to
linen paper for the waiting printers of Europe. I learned that from James Burke.
Connections by James Burke can be found on youtube, where it’s broken up into little 10 minute segments, but Burke is great for showing how invention breeds invention and how in trying to solve one problem, people discover something else entirely different. Not all of his shows work as well as others, but he certainly gives one many things to think about.
I’d participate. Maybe Henry Ford would survive longer than he did in this about-to-conclude thread…
Last day to vote!
Thanks to everybody for playing!!! 
And the winnah, and all-time #1 Most Influential Person of all time, is:
Sir Isaac Newton
Tell him what he’s won, Don Pardo!
“Mr. Newton has won a complete bedroom suite courtesy of Broyhill Furniture, a years supply of Jif peanut butter - remember: “Choosy mom’s choose Jif” - and… a new car! This brand new 2010 Ford Tempo is just the right car for both city commutes and jaunts to the apple orchard.”
Yay and good on ya you dead, testy ol’ genius you!
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…
If I had to do it over again, I would rid the game of the categories. While they made things simpler to work and understand, they did not help in determing a true final list - the one above de-emphasizes Inventors and Religion and placed a larger emphasis on political Leaders. St. Paul is the #2 religious person, but his final rank is #21… not because he’s necessarily the 21st most-important figure, but because we ran out of religious names with 4 or 5 rounds to go and he was the last to be voted off.
I tried doing some weighing of the charts, but the closest one that would be “fair” would be to weigh the categories by the number of names - therefore, the 16 religious people possibly voted out earlier than they would have been (because of their category small size) would be slightly elevated in rank, while the leaders would be depressed.
But that’s still not perfect, because it assumes that all categories are equal… and, to each of us, they’re not. Personally, I don’t think the Leaders category is all that, and I’ve read some say the Philosophy and Arts crowd should have been voted out sooner than they were. And we end up with the opposite problem than above - for the first 16 places, the weighted list doesn’t “vote” out a single religious figure at all.
Since I did the work and it doesn’t cost me anything to post here (well, it does, but I volunteer to be charged) here’s the weighted list:
(Weighted Ranking, Name, Unweighted Ranking)
**100. John F Kennedy, 97
99. Menes, 95
98. Sigmund Freud, 96
97. Mencius, 99
96. Gregory Pincus, 98
95. Simon Bolivar, 87
94. William Harvey, 91
93. Vasco de Gama, 94
92. Gregor Mendel, 88
91. Thomas Malthus, 92
90. Shi Huang Di, 82
89. Johann Sebastian Bach, 90
88. Francisco Pizarro, 89
87. William Conrad Roentgen, 83
86. Mikhail Gorbachev, 79
85. Mahavira, 100
84. Jean-Jacques Rosseau, 84
83. Queen Isabella I, 74
82. Christopher Columbus, 81
81. Werner Heisenberg, 76
80. Mani, 93
79. Hernando Cortes, 78
78. Rene Descrates, 77
77. Peter the Great, 70
76. Homer, 75
75. Antonine Laurent Lavoisier, 71
74. Oliver Cromwell, 86
73. Zoraster, 85
72. Leonhard Euler, 69
71. Alexander Graham Bell, 72
70. Charlemagne, 65
69. Justinian I, 80
68. Ludwig von Beethoven, 67
67. Orville and Wilbur Wright, 66
66. Queen Elizabeth I, 60
65. James Clerk Maxwell, 61
64. Voltaire, 64
63. Pope Urban II, 73
62. William TG Morton, 62
61. Nicoli Machiavelli, 59
60. Galileo Galilei, 56
59. John Calvin, 68
58. Adolf Hitler, 52
57. Louis Dagurre, 57
56. Henry Ford, 55
55. Cyrus the Great, 50
54. Asoka, 63
53. Nicolas Copernicus, 51
52. Michelangelo, 53
51. Enrico Fermi, 49
50. St Augustine, 58
49. Lao Tzu, 48
48. Nikolaus August Otto, 47
47. Ernest Rutherford, 44
46. ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, 54
45. Alexander the Great, 42
44. Thomas Jefferson, 45
43. Gugilemo Marconi, 43
42. Mao Zedong, 39
41. Francis Bacon, 40
40. Constantine the Great, 46
39. John Dalton, 37
38. Joseph Lister, 38
37. Josef Stalin, 34
36. Johannes Kepler, 35
35. Martin Luther, 41
34. John Locke, 33
33. William the Conquerer, 30
32. Antony van Leeuwenhoek, 32
31. Buddha, 36
30. Max Planck, 29
29. Alexander Fleming, 28
28. Adam Smith, 27
27. Moses, 31
26. Napoleon Bonaparte, 24
25. Edward Jenner, 25
24. Michael Faraday, 22
23. William Shakespeare, 23
22. Jesus Christ, 26
21. Julius Caesar, 20
20. Karl Marx, 19
19. Louis Pasteur, 18
18. St Paul, 21
17. Lenin, 16
16. Ts’ai Lun, 17
15. Thomas Edison, 15
14. Charles Darwin, 14
13. Sui Wen Ti, 12
12. Confucius, 13
11. Plato, 11
10. James Watt, 10
9. Euclid, 9
8. Genghis Khan, 8
7. Albert Einstein, 7
6. George Washington, 6
5. Augustus Caesar, 4
4. Mohammed, 5
3. Aristotle, 3
2. Johann Gutenberg, 2
- Isaac Newton, 1
**
John, I’d like to thank you for the work you put into this thread.
That’s a harsh marking criteria.
SDMB rank within 5 of Hart
12
SDMB rank within 10 of Hart
27
SDMB rank within 15 of Hart
43
Given the way we (collectively) gave the theologists a pizzling that’s not so bad.
Oh and BTW, JohnT bravo bravissimo
Y’all are welcome. It was quite a fun thing to do, and pretty easy - each round only took 5-10 minutes to score.