The 100 a ranking of the most influential people in history
Here’s a clear and concise summary of the book “The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History” by Michael H. Hart, along with a profile of the author:
📘 Book Summary: The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History
Author: Michael H. Hart
First Published: 1978 (Updated editions followed)
🧠 Core Idea
This book ranks the 100 individuals who, in the author's opinion, most influenced human history — not necessarily those who were morally “great,” but those whose actions had the biggest lasting impact on the world.
Hart's list is global and spans religion, science, politics, invention, literature, and more. His controversial top ranking of Prophet Muhammad as #1 is based on Muhammad’s unparalleled influence in both religious and political spheres, something Hart believed no other person achieved to the same degree.
📋 Selection Criteria
Hart based his rankings on:
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The scope and depth of the person's influence
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The lasting nature of that influence
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Whether the person was the originator of a major change
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Cultural reach (global vs. local)
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Historical impact that altered civilization or human behavior
Notably, Hart separated “influence” from moral virtue, meaning some people with controversial legacies (e.g. Adolf Hitler, Genghis Khan) are still ranked due to their undeniable historical impact.
Here’s a full ranked list of the 100 most influential persons in history, according to Michael H. Hart’s revised and updated 1992 edition of The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History Reddit+15Wikipedia+15Goodreads+15:
🏛️ Top 100 Influential People (1992 edition)
| Rank | Name |
|---|---|
| 1 | Muhammad |
| 2 | Isaac Newton |
| 3 | Jesus Christ |
| 4 | Gautama Buddha |
| 5 | Confucius |
| 6 | St. Paul the Apostle |
| 7 | Ts’ai Lun (inventor of paper) |
| 8 | Johannes Gutenberg |
| 9 | Christopher Columbus |
| 10 | Albert Einstein |
| 11 | Karl Marx |
| 12 | Louis Pasteur |
| 13 | Galileo Galilei |
| 14 | Aristotle |
| 15 | Vladimir Lenin |
| 16 | Moses |
| 17 | Charles Darwin |
| 18 | Qin Shi Huang (First Emperor of China) |
| 19 | Augustus Caesar |
| 20 | Mao Tse‑tung |
| 21 | Genghis Khan |
| 22 | Euclid |
| 23 | Martin Luther |
| 24 | Nicolaus Copernicus |
| 25 | James Watt |
| 26 | Constantine the Great |
| 27 | George Washington |
| 28 | Michael Faraday |
| 29 | James Clerk Maxwell |
| 30 | Orville & Wilbur Wright |
| 31 | Antoine Laurent Lavoisier |
| 32 | Sigmund Freud |
| 33 | Alexander the Great |
| 34 | Napoleon Bonaparte |
| 35 | Adolf Hitler |
| 36 | Edward de Vere (Earl of Oxford substituting Shakespeare) |
| 37 | Adam Smith |
| 38 | Thomas Edison |
| 39 | Antonie van Leeuwenhoek |
| 40 | Plato |
| 41 | Guglielmo Marconi |
| 42 | Ludwig van Beethoven |
| 43 | Werner Heisenberg |
| 44 | Alexander Graham Bell |
| 45 | Alexander Fleming |
| 46 | Simón Bolívar |
| 47 | Oliver Cromwell |
| 48 | John Locke |
| 49 | Michelangelo |
| 50 | Pope Urban II |
| 51 | Umar ibn al‑Khattab |
| 52 | Ashoka the Great |
| 53 | St. Augustine |
| 54 | Max Planck |
| 55 | John Calvin |
| 56 | William T. G. Morton |
| 57 | William Harvey |
| 58 | Henri Becquerel |
| 59 | Gregor Mendel |
| 60 | Joseph Lister |
| 61 | Nikolaus Otto |
| 62 | Louis Daguerre |
| 63 | Joseph Stalin |
| 64 | René Descartes |
| 65 | Julius Caesar |
| 66 | Francisco Pizarro |
| 67 | Hernán Cortés |
| 68 | Isabella I of Castile |
| 69 | William the Conqueror |
| 70 | Thomas Jefferson |
| 71 | Jean‑Jacques Rousseau |
| 72 | Edward Jenner |
| 73 | Wilhelm Röntgen |
| 74 | Johann Sebastian Bach |
| 75 | Lao Tzu |
| 76 | Enrico Fermi |
| 77 | Thomas Malthus |
| 78 | Francis Bacon |
| 79 | Voltaire |
| 80 | John F. Kennedy |
| 81 | Gregory Pincus |
| 82 | Sui Wen Ti |
| 83 | Mani |
| 84 | Vasco da Gama |
| 85 | Charlemagne |
| 86 | Cyrus the Great |
| 87 | Leonhard Euler |
| 88 | Niccolò Machiavelli |
| 89 | Zoroaster |
| 90 | Menes |
| 91 | Peter the Great |
| 92 | Mencius |
| 93 | John Dalton |
| 94 | Homer |
| 95 | Elizabeth I |
| 96 | Justinian I |
| 97 | Johannes Kepler |
| 98 | Pablo Picasso |
| 99 | Mahavira |
| 100 | Niels Bohr |
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📚 More About the Book
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First published in 1978, with a revised edition released in 1992. It has sold over 60,000 copies, and has been translated into multiple languages PenguinRandomhouse.com+2Wikipedia+2Goodreads+2.
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Hart’s goal was to assess influence—not moral greatness. That’s why figures such as Hitler, Stalin, Darwin, and Mao appear on the list—even though their legacies are controversial Amazon.
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Many entries reflect religious, scientific, military, and technological foundation-layers of civilization, rather than artistic or literary fame.
🧑🏫 About Michael H. Hart
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Born April 1932, Hart was an American astrophysicist with degrees in mathematics, physics, computer science, and even law. He taught at institutions like Trinity University and worked at NASA Goodreads+1Goodreads+1.
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His viewpoints have drawn criticism: Hart described himself as a white separatist, and has expressed controversial opinions outside of the book’s content Reddit+2Wikipedia+2Reddit+2.
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Despite the controversies, his ranking remains widely discussed as a provocative lens on “who changed the world,” rather than “who was ethically greatest.”