The 100 Most Influential People - Try the Third

The Game Room
81

Inventors. William Morton
Leaders. Mikhail Gorbachev
Philosophy. Francis Bacon
Religion. Zoroaster
Science. Gregor Mendel

Reasons:
Wouldn’t anesthesia have been developed without Morton? For that matter, Morton’s claim was controversial and, anyway, aren’t there several medical innovations more important than anesthesiology?
Mightn’t the USSR have collapsed anyway without Gorbachev?
Zoroaster may be semi-mythical (or conflated).
Mendel’s discovery was important, but was ignored, and finally rediscovered independently 34 years after Mendel’s paper.

By the way, Hart shows “Edward de Vere” not “William Shakespeare.” Perhaps JohnT can confirm that “William Shakespeare” here refers to the author of Hamlet and The Sonnets, whatever his true name. (“Homer” poses a different problem. The author of Iliad and Odyssey would be influential whatever his true name, but were they written by the same person?)

82

Yes, one can take “William Shakespeare” to mean the author of Hamlet, etc. Whether one might think it’s Eddie de Vere or whomever, all possibilities as to the true author should be considered under “William Shakespeare”.

Personally, I think the author of “William Shakespeare’s” work is… William Shakespeare. It’s odd that it’s up for debate… aren’t there any rough drafts or anything?

83

Round 2:

Inventions. Ts’ai Lun
Leader. Menes
Philosophy. Johann Sebastian Bach
Religion. Mani
Science. William Harvey

84

“Rough drafts”? :confused: The only specima of Shakespeare’s handwriting are six signatures on legal documents, all dated after his alleged play-writing. (The authorship question is interesting but I’m afraid further discussion would need to be in BBQ Pit.)

85

Invention and Exploration. Ts’ai Lun
Leader. Menes
Philosophy and Arts. Homer
Religion. Moses
Science. Gregor Mendel

Notes:
Gregor Mendel: His ideas were ignored until three biologists rediscovered the basics of heredity at the turn of the last century and found out that Mendel had preceded them. So about the only change if Mendel never existed is that we’d be arguing about which of those three later scientists should get the credit for genetics.

86

About 7 more hours til the end of round 2…

87

Inventor. Orville and Wilbur Wright
Leader. Menes
Philosophy. Johann Sebastian Bach
Religion. Moses
Science. Enrico Fermi
1lots of people were trying to make a flying machine the Wrights just won the race
2what did the egyptions ever do for me?
3 nice tunes but thats all
4 myth
5 lots of people working on the bomb, if not him someone else would of

88

All right, those voted off the island for round two include:

Category, name, # of votes received
I, Vasco De Gama, 5
L, Menes, 6
P, Thomas Malthus, 4
R, Mani, 11
S, William Harvey, 4

Willthekittensurvive?, I included your votes though technically you were late with round 2.

Round 3 list:

Inventors

Alexander Fleming, Scientist, Invented Penicillin
Alexander Graham Bell, Scientist, Invented Telephone
Antony van Leeuwenhoek, Scientist, Inventor of Microscope
Christopher Columbus, Explorer, Discoverer of America
Edward Jenner, Scientist, Developed Vaccination for Smallpox
Francisco Pizarro, Spanish Adventurer, Conquered Inca Empire
Gugilemo Marconi, Scientist, Invented Radio
Henry Ford, American Industrialist, Developed Mass Production Techniques
Hernando Cortes, Spanish Adventurer, Conquered Aztec Empire
James Watt, British Scientist, Invented Steam Engine
Johann Gutenberg, Scientist, Inventor of Printing Press
Joseph Lister, Scientist, Developed Antiseptic Methods
Louis Dagurre, Scientist, Invented Photography
Nikolaus August Otto, Scientist, Developed Internal Combustion Engine
Orville and Wilbur Wright, Scientists, Inventor of Airplane
Thomas Edison, American Scientist, 1,000+ inventions
Ts’ai Lun, Scientist, Inventor of Paper
William TG Morton, Scientist, Invented Anaesthesia

Leaders

Adolf Hitler, German Dictator, Started World War II
Alexander the Great, Macedonian Ruler, Formed Macedonian Empire
Augustus Caesar, Roman Princep, Founded Roman Empire
Charlemagne, Frankish Monarch, Founder of Holy Roman Empire
Cyrus the Great, Persian Emperor, Founded Persian Emperor
Genghis Khan, Mongol Ruler, Founded Mongol Empire
George Washington, American Statesman and General, Fought For Independence of United States
Josef Stalin, Dictator of USSR, Expanded Communism
Julius Caesar, Roman General, Ended Roman Civil Wars
Lenin, Russian Leader, Founded Communism in Russia
Mao Zedong, Chinese Dictator, Established Communism in China
Mikhail Gorbachev, Soviet Leader, Liberalized and Helped Break Up USSR
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor, Waged Napoleonic Wars
Peter the Great, Russian Emperor, Modernized Russia
Queen Elizabeth I, Queen of England, Made England a Naval Power
Queen Isabella I, Queen of Spain, Sponsored Columbus’ Expeditions
Shi Huang Di, Chinese Emperor, United China
Simon Bolivar, Latin American General and Statesman, Waged Wars of Independence
Sui Wen Ti, Chinese Emperor, Reunited China
William the Conquerer, Norman Duke and English King, Led In Norman Conquest of England

Philosophy

Adam Smith, Economist, Advocated Capitalism
Aristotle, Greek Philosopher
Confucius, Chinese Philosopher, Founder of Confucianism
Francis Bacon, Philosopher, Developed Scientific Method
Homer, Greek Poet, Writer of Epics
Jean-Jacques Rosseau, French Philosopher and Writer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
John Locke, British Philosopher, Developed Democratic Ideas
Karl Marx, Economist, Founder of Communism
Lao Tzu, Chinese Philosopher, Founded Taoism
Ludwig von Beethoven, Composer
Michelangelo, Artist, Sculptor
Nicoli Machiavelli, Political Theorist
Plato, Greek Philosopher, Developed Platonism
Rene Descrates, French Philosopher
Thomas Jefferson, American Statesman, Wrote Declaration of Independence, Louisiana Purchase
Voltaire, French Philosopher
William Shakespeare, English Playwright

Religion

‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, Muslim Caliph, Expanded the Caliphate
Asoka, Indian Emperor, Spread Buddhism
Buddha, Founder of Buddhism
Constantine the Great, Roman Emperor, Tolerated and Promoted Christianity in Rome
Jesus Christ, Founder of Christianity
John Calvin, Christian Theologian, Developed Calvinism
Justinian I, Byzantine Emperor, Recovered Much of Roman Empire
Martin Luther, Theologian, Started Protestantism and Reformation
Mohammed, Founder of Islam
Moses, Jewish Prophet
Oliver Cromwell, British Ruler
Pope Urban II, Pope of Roman Catholic Church, Called For Crusades
St Augustine, Christian Theologian
St Paul, Christian Missionary and Apostle
Zoroaster, Founder of Zorasterianism

Science

Albert Einstein, Scientist, Physicist, Theory of Relativity
Antonine Laurent Lavoisier, French Scientist, Advanced Chemistry
Charles Darwin, British Scientist, Theory of Evolution
Enrico Fermi, Scientist, Developed Atomic Bomb
Ernest Rutherford, Scientist, Developed Subatomic Physics
Euclid, Greek Mathematician
Galileo Galilei, Scientist, Advocated Heliocentricity
Gregor Mendel, Priest and Scientist, Advanced Genetics
Isaac Newton, British Scientist, Theory of Universal Gravitation and Motion
James Clerk Marxwell, Scientist, Electromagnetism
Johannes Kepler, Scientist, Developed Theories of Planetary Motion
John Dalton, Scientist, Atomic Theory
Leonhard Euler, Mathematician
Louis Pasteur, Scientist, Pasteurization, Germ Theory of Disease
Max Planck, Scientist, Developed Therodynamics
Michael Faraday, British Scientist, Discovered Electromagnetism
Nicolas Copernicus, Scientist, Theory of Heliocentricity
Werner Heisenberg, Scientist, Developed Quantum Physics
William Conrad Roentgen, Scientist, Discovered X-Rays, principles of radioactivity

Lastly, a word from your obedient host here…

YOU PEOPLE KEEP COMING PERILOUSLY CLOSE TO VOTING OFF JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH! STOP IT OR I WILL FORCE YOU TO LISTEN TO MY DAUGHTER’S COLLECTION OF “THE WORLD’S WORST BOY BANDS: ALBUM CUTS, VOL. 4”!

Thank you. :wink:

89

Btw, round 3 starts now and lasts until Wednesday night.

90

Inventor. Pizarro
Leader. Simon Bolivar
Philosophy. Johann Sebastian Bach
Religion. Oliver Cromwell
Science. Johannes Kepler

(sorry).

91

Inventor. Francisco Pizarro
Leader. Shi Huang Di
Philosophy. Rene Descartes
Religion. Oliver Cromwell
Science. James Clerk Maxwell

Cromwell is the only change from the last round – let’s see if I go back to my early herd mentality or remain an outlier this time.

92

Inventors. Orville and Wilbur Wright
Leaders. Shi Huang Di
Philosophy. Johann Sebastian Bach
Religion. Oliver Cromwell
Science. Werner Heisenberg

*Wright Brothers: the airplane was being invented simultaneously by other people

  • Shi Huang Di must not have had a very lasting influence on Chinese unification, if Sui Wen Ti had to RE-unite China later
  • I had to go with Bach, Beethoven or Michelangelo and I’d argue (weakly) that the latter two were more influential in their respective fields than Bach.
  • It seems to me that Cromwell’s influence outside of his own country is minor (compared to those he is up against)
  • Heisenberg’s influence is just too short-lived and without enough practical implications at this point in history
93

Here’s some of what’s in store for Skammer and Amarone:

Are You Down, by NKOTB
I’m Coming Down by a Bobby Brown-less New Edition

As a bonus, I’m going to include two (2!) tracks from Corey Haim’s only album, You Give Me Everything.

94

Inventor. Pizarro
Leader. Peter the Great
Philosophy. Voltaire
Religion. Justinian
Science. Gregor Mendel

42fish convinced me on Mendel. My only triumph last turn was in Philosophy; with Malthus gone, there’s no one 100% wrong left; I’ll go with Voltaire as somewhat in Rousseau’s shadow (and Jefferson’s and Locke’s, to a lesser degree).

95

Inventions. Christopher Columbus
Leader. Charlemagne
Philosophy. Lao Tzu
Religion. Oliver Cromwell
Science. Gregor Mendel

Sorry Christopher, you weren’t first there. You took the cash for something you didn’t actually find. There’s no way I’m giving any sop to those cartographially-challenged back seat drivers who make driving so unpleasant.
Charlemagne, just another evangelical thug at a time the world was awash with them. If it wasn’t for Roland wouldn’t even have had decent PR.
Tzu, I apologise. Yes, musicians probably should get flicked before thinkers, but even a holistic like yourself could find no justification for a Boy Band revival
Oli, mate, nice job as a regicide but was about religion or dynasty when you made Richard an hereditary Regent?
Mendel. Your theory was good, very good. It’s just a bit lucky it was right because the way you and your gardener forged the results was inexcusable.

96

It appears I can reuse most of my picks for the last round.

Inventions. Orville and Wilbur Wright
Leader. Isabella
Philosophy and Arts. Rene Descrates
Religion. Zoraster
Science. Werner Heisenberg

97

It appears I can use ALL of my picks for the last round!

Invention. Francisco Pizarro
Leader. Alexander the Great
Philosophy. Ludwig von Beethoven
Religion. Oliver Cromwell
Science. Galileo Galilei

98

Inventors. Orville and Wilbur Wright
Leader. Simon Bolivar
Philosophy. Lao Tzu
Religion. Oliver Cromwell
Science. Gregor Mendel

99

Inventions. Francisco Pizarro
Leader. Simon Bolivar
Philosophy and Arts. Johann Sebastian Bach
Religion. ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab
Science. Antonine Laurent Lavoisier

100

Inventors. Christopher Columbus
Leaders. Mikhail Gorbachev
Philosophy. Voltaire
Religion. Oliver Cromwell
Science. William Conrad Roentgen

Hee hee…