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Persons of the Millennium
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I created this list in 2000, when everyone was doing millennium lists --- Man/Woman/Person of the Year/Century/Millennium and so on. Personally, I believe that historical forces such as demographic movements or technological and social changes are more important to history than individuals (in other words, selective forces are more important in guiding the evolution of history than raw materials). But clearly there are persons who have made unique, individual, and beneficial contributions to human history. In trying to list some of these individuals, I omitted
many pure "discoverers" (from Columbus to the Curies, Fleming, Watson and Crick), assuming that their discoveries could have been
made by other people, and I tried to choose figures whose contributions
contained a large component of unique inspiration or creativity in the creation
of ideas, beliefs, or theories. However, I also included some inventors and even discoverers who made unique and profound contributions. I hope this list will grow
and inspire discussion. I chose to omit some obviously influential figures
because I don't believe that their net influence on human knowledge or society
was positive: Luther, Locke, Rousseau, Voltaire, Bonaparte,
Marx, Lenin, etc. I chose to begin with the 15th century
because historical documentation of individual achievements and contributions
is hit-and-miss prior to c. 1400 and insufficient to allow a
comprehensive list of influential people. Because of this, the separate list
of great figures prior to 1400 (the formative period in Europe, India,
the Arab world, China, the Americas, and elsewhere) is not as complete and reliable as this list. I recently revisited this list and added some more historical figures; new additions are in italics. |
| Name |
Lived |
Nationality |
Contributions |
Comments |
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Filippo Brunelleschi |
1377-1446 |
Florence |
Architect, sculptor |
Greatest architect of Renaissance; among first to master linear perspective |
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Jan van Eyck |
1390?-1441? |
Holy Roman Empire (Liege) |
Painter |
Influential portraitist, one of first masters of oil painting |
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Henry (the Navigator) |
1394-1460 |
Portugal |
Monarch, directed Portuguese exploration of Africa |
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Johann Gutenberg |
1398-1468? |
Mainz |
Probably first printer in Europe to use movable type |
Enabled masses to read and write religious texts, literature, and propaganda |
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Cosimo d' Medici,
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1389-1464, |
Florence |
Ruling politicians of Florence, patrons of arts and philosophy |
Machiavellian rulers, but made significant alliances and fostered growth of the Renaissance, Neo-Platonism |
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Leon Alberti |
1404-1472 |
Genoa |
Writer, architect |
Theorist of Renaissance architecture, design |
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Pachacuti |
15th century |
Cuzco |
Ruler during expansion of Inca empire; built Machu Picchu |
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Ivan III Vasilevich |
1440-1505 |
Muscovy |
Established Moscow's dominance of western Russia , built Kremlin |
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Julius II (Giuliano della Rovere) |
1445-1513 |
Genoa |
Pope; started construction of St. Peter's |
Continued restoration of Rome, strengthening of papacy begun by Martin V and Sixtus IV |
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Isabel I (Isabella),
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1451-1506, |
Castile, Aragon |
Monarchs of unified Spain, directed Columbus expeditions |
Important rulers of early nation-state; their support of Columbus was prescient, but unfortunately led to brutal Spanish conquests |
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Leonardo da Vinci |
1452-1519 |
Florence |
Painter, sculptor, scientific thinker |
One of greatest generalists (or "Renaissance men") |
| Nicolaus Copernicus | 1473-1543 | Poland | Proposed heliocentric solar system | Like Columbus, his originality is exaggerated; ideas were anticipated by Indian astronomers and Fracastaro, among others |
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Michelangelo Buonarroti |
1475-1564 |
Florence |
Renaissance painter, sculptor and architect |
His works (including St. Peter's as well as sculpture, paintings) set standards for artistic creation |
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Titian Vecellio |
1477-1576 |
Venetian Republic |
Renaissance painter |
Prolific and brilliant artist |
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Babur (Zahir ud-Din Mohammed), Akbar |
1483-1530, |
Fergana, |
Rulers who established and consolidated Mogul empire in India |
Mogul empire was last great society in north India before British control |
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Peter Henlein |
1480?-1542? |
Nuremberg |
Possible inventor of spring-driven watch |
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Raphael Sanzio |
1483-1520 |
Papal States |
Renaissance painter |
One of the greatest artists of any culture or century |
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Ambroise Paré |
1510-1590 |
France |
Surgeon |
Improved surgical knowledge |
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Oda Nobunaga, Tokugawa Ieyasu |
1534-1582, |
Japan |
Warlords who united Japan |
Nobunaga brought unity; Tokagawa established modern political system, capital |
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Tulsidas |
1543?-1623 |
Delhi |
Poet |
One of lyric poets that vitalized Hinduism |
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Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra |
1547-1616 |
Spain |
Writer |
An early novelist |
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Galileo Galilei |
1564-1642 |
Florence |
Scientist; formulated laws of dynamics, made astronomical discoveries, invented thermometer, studied pendulum |
One of greatest scientists in history; not only a discoverer, but the founding theorist of modern dynamics (along with the "Oxford group") |
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William Shakespeare |
1564-1616 |
England |
Playwright, poet, actor |
Arguably the greatest dramatist and poet in modern history |
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Johannes Kepler |
1571-1630 |
Wurttemberg |
Formulated theory of planetary orbits |
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William Harvey |
1578-1657 |
England |
Physician, described blood circulation |
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René Descartes |
1596-1650 |
France |
Mathematician, philosopher; established coordinate geometry |
Philosophy began fruitless journey toward modernism; contributions to mathematics all-important |
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Giovanni Bernini |
1598-1680 |
Naples, Spain |
Sculptor, architect |
With Maderno, Borromini, and Guarini, greatest architect of baroque period |
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Pierre de Fermat |
1601?-1665 |
France |
Public official; helped to develop geometry, number theory, anticipated calculus |
One of greatest mathematicians in history |
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Rembrandt van Rijn |
1606-1669 |
United Provinces |
Painter |
With Velazquez, greatest painter of 17th century (and perhaps since the Renaissance) |
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Blaise Pascal |
1623-1662 |
France |
Mathematician, religious writer, scientist |
Odd mixture of religious apologist and scientist |
| Robert Boyle | 1627-1691 | Ireland | Scientist; established relationship between pressure and volume of gases | One of founders of modern chemistry |
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Christiaan Huygens |
1629-1695 |
United Provinces |
Mathematician, astronomer; studied mechanics, optics; improved lenses, invented pendulum clock |
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Anton von Leeuwenhoek |
1632-1723 |
United Provinces |
Microscopist, described plants and animals |
Microscope was invented by Zacharias Jansen, but Leeuwenhoek put it to greatest use |
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Jean Racine |
1639-1699 |
France |
Dramatist |
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Isaac Newton |
1643-1727 |
England |
Mathematician; formulated laws of gravitation and mechanics, invented calculus, studied light and optics |
Newton's works are foundation of mathematics and physics--- though most physical laws are not as simple as Newton's laws |
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Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz |
1646-1716 |
Saxony |
Co-inventor of calculus, advanced logic and metaphysics |
One of history's greatest thinkers |
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Bartolomeo Cristofori |
1655-1731 |
Venetian Republic |
One of inventors of piano |
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Thomas Newcomen |
1663-1729 |
England |
Developed steam-powered pump |
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Jonathan Swift |
1667-1745 |
Ireland |
Satirical writer, pamphleteer |
Misanthropic but brilliant critic (without Voltaire's egoism and false compassion) |
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Jethro Tull |
1674-1741 |
England |
Farm owner; promoted use of seed drill, horse-drawn tiller |
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Johann Sebastian Bach |
1685-1750 |
Saxony |
Composer of instrumental and choral music |
Among the greatest contributors to European music |
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Daniel Bernoulli |
1700-1782 |
United Provinces |
Mathematician, contributed to hydrodynamics |
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Carolus Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) |
1707-1778 |
Sweden |
Botanist, created binomial classification system |
One of many notable botanists/natural historians; system built on work of Cesalpino, Ray and others |
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Adam Smith |
1723-1790 |
Great Britain |
Surveyed economic theory (trade, markets, labor) |
Causes of wealth of nations are still unknown, but Smith started the dialogue |
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William Blackstone |
1723-1780 |
Great Britain |
Jurist, wrote popular books of British common law |
British law is one of world's great social institutions --- Blackstone helped to make it accessible |
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James Hutton |
1726-1797 |
Great Britain |
Geologist; investigated geology and meteorology |
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| John Wilkinson | 1728-1808 | Great Britain | Iron manufacturer; invented boring machine | |
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Edmund Burke |
1729-1797 |
Great Britain |
Parliamentarian, writer; criticized French Revolution |
Perhaps best modern political thinker |
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George Washington |
1732-1799 |
British colonies |
General of U.S. army and first president |
Model for subsequent republican leaders, defined role of presidents |
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Richard Arkwright |
1732-1792 |
Great Britain |
Developed textile factories using powered spinning machine |
One of first great entrepreneurs of Industrial Revolution |
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Joseph Lagrange |
1736-1813 |
Sardinia (Piedmont) |
Mathematician |
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James Watt |
1736-1819 |
Great Britain |
Engineer, developed first efficient steam engine, boiler, micrometer |
Important architect of Industrial Revolution |
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Antoine Lavoisier |
1743-1794 |
France |
Scientist, founded concepts of chemistry |
Executed in French Revolution for being "chemist and savant" |
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Alessandro Volta |
1745-1827 |
Austria (Lombardy) |
Developed primary battery |
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Pierre Simon Laplace |
1749-1827 |
France |
Mathematician, contributed to celestial mechanics, statistics |
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Edward Jenner |
1749-1823 |
Great Britain |
Doctor, developed smallpox vaccination |
His improvement of an old discovery helped launch medical efforts against infectious diseases |
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James Madison, Alexander Hamilton |
1751-1836, |
British colonies |
Statesmen and writers, defined institutions of U.S. government |
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Francois Appert |
1752-1841 |
France |
Developed food preserving technique |
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Joseph Marie Jacquard |
1752-1834 |
France |
Developed automated loom |
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William Murdoch |
1754-1839 |
Great Britain |
Inventor, introduced gas lighting, improved steam engine, built first steam locomotive |
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart |
1756-1791 |
Salzburg |
Composer in many forms |
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J. Nicephore Niepce, Louis Daguerre |
1765-1833, |
France |
Produced first photographic images |
Others' contributions to photography also important (e.g. Fox Talbot invented printing from photo negative) |
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John Dalton |
1766-1844 |
Great Britain |
Proposed atomic nature of matter |
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William Smith |
1769-1839 |
Great Britain |
Geologist, studied strata, fossil sequence |
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Ludwig van Beethoven |
1770-1825 |
Cologne |
Composer |
HIs music, persona bridged classical and romantic periods |
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Richard Trevithick |
1771-1833 |
Great Britain |
Engineer; developed steam locomotive, high pressure steam engine, pump |
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George Cayley |
1773-1857 |
Great Britain |
Inventor, developed gliders and aerodynamic theory |
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Amedeo Avogadro |
1776-1856 |
Sardinia |
Physicist, proposed theory of molecules and atomic weights |
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Carl Friedrich Gauss |
1777-1855 |
Brunswick |
Mathematician; contributed to number theory, astrophysics, differential geometry, statistics, other fields |
After Newton, greatest modern mathematician; wide-ranging interests and contributions; his non-Euclidean geometry enabled modern physics |
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William Sturgeon,
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1783-1850, |
Great Britain,
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Inventors of electromagnet |
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Michael Faraday |
1791-1867 |
Great Britain |
Physicist; discovered electromagnetic induction, studied electricity, chemistry, light polarization |
One of the greatest empirical scientists in history |
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Sadi Carnot, |
1796-1832, |
France, |
Physicists who developed theory of heat engines, basis of thermodynamics |
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Charles Lyell |
1797-1875 |
Great Britain |
Geologist, proposed geologic time scale |
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Honore de Balzac |
1799-1850 |
France |
Novelist |
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John Henry Newman |
1801-1890 |
UK |
Cardinal, writer of apologetics |
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William Rowan Hamilton |
1805-1865 |
UK (Ireland) |
Mathematician, contributed to number theory, dynamics |
Contributions aided quantum theory |
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Alexis de Tocqueville |
1805-1869 |
France |
Historian, studied France and U.S. |
Perceptive commentator, usually correct |
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Charles Darwin |
1809-1882 |
UK |
Naturalist, advanced theory of biological evolution through natural selection |
One of the most important theorists in history; described dynamism, complexity and competitive/probabilistic nature of life |
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Henry Bessemer, |
1813-1898, |
UK, Hanover |
Developed methods of large-scale steel manufacturing |
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Ignaz Semmelweiss, Joseph Lister |
1818-1865, |
Austria-Hungary, |
Introduced sterilization in obstetrics, surgery |
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James Joule |
1819-1889 |
UK |
Physicist, determined equivalence of heat and work |
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Hermann von Helmholtz |
1821-1894 |
Prussia |
Scientist |
Stated law of conservation of energy |
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Fyodor Dostoevski |
1821-1881 |
Russia |
Novelist |
His works depicted the historical crisis of Christianity |
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Louis Pasteur |
1822-1895 |
France |
Chemist, microbiologist; described fermentation, introduced vaccines and pasteurization, advanced germ theory of disease |
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Gregor Mendel |
1822-1884 |
Austria-Hungary |
Monk, conducted experiments demonstrating single-gene heredity |
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Jean-Joseph-Etienne Lenoir, Nikolaus August Otto |
1822-1900, |
Belgium, Nassau |
Developed internal-combustion engine |
Many others also contributed to development |
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Alfred Wallace |
1823-1913 |
UK |
Naturalist, explorer, co-author of theory of evolution |
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William Thomson, Lord Kelvin |
1824-1907 |
Ireland, UK |
Physicist, invesitgated thermodynamics |
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Georg Friedrich Bernhard Riemann |
1826-1866 |
Hanover |
Mathematician |
Developed basis of non-Euclidean geometry |
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James Clerk Maxwell |
1831-1879 |
UK |
Physicist; developed theories of electromagnetic fields and radiation; studied gases; contributed to statistics |
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Dmitri Mendeleev |
1834-1907 |
Russia |
Chemist, created periodic table |
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Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) |
1835-1910 |
USA |
Writer-humorist |
Despite his nihilism, perhaps the best U.S. writer |
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John Muir |
1838-1914 |
UK |
Led U.S. conservation movement |
With George Perkins Marsh, inspired interest in preserving nature |
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Josiah Willard Gibbs |
1839-1903 |
USA |
Developed concepts of chemical thermodynamics |
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Alfred Marshall |
1842-1924 |
UK |
Published principles of neoclassical economics |
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Ludwig Boltzmann |
1844-1906 |
Austria-Hungary |
Physicist, established statistical mechanics |
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Gottlieb Daimler, |
1844-1929 |
Baden, |
Built automobiles with four-stroke engine |
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Thomas Edison |
1847-1931 |
USA |
Inventor of electric light, phonograph; developed electric generator, storage battery |
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Alexander Graham Bell |
1847-1922 |
UK |
Best-known inventor of telephone |
Beat another inventor, Elisha Gray, to patent by only a few hours |
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John A. Fleming,
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1849-1945, |
UK, |
Inventors of diode and triode (electric amplifier) |
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Hendrik Lorentz |
1853-1928 |
Netherlands |
Physicist, studied electron dynamics |
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Charles Parsons |
1854-1931 |
UK |
Designed successful steam turbine |
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Paul Ehrlich |
1854-1915 |
Prussia |
Bacteriologist, began search for antibiotics |
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Henri Poincaré |
1854-1912 |
France |
Mathematician, developed areas of mechanics, topology |
Non-deterministic mathematics anticipated "chaos theory" |
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Heinrich Hertz |
1857-1894 |
Hamburg |
Physicist; developed electric oscillator, studied electromagnetic radiation |
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Max Planck |
1858-1947 |
Austria (Prussia) |
Physicist, described quantum nature of energy |
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Herman Hollerith |
1860-1929 |
USA |
Inventor, developed electro-mechanical computing machine |
Babbage invented some concepts of computer, but Hollerith's was first practical computing machine |
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Augustus Waller,
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1856-1922, |
France, |
Physiologists, studied heart and invented electrocardiography |
Among many developments in rapid advance of medicine in early 20th century |
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William Henry Bragg, William Lawrence Bragg |
1862-1942, 1890-1971 |
UK, British Empire (Australia) |
Physicists, developed X-ray crystallography |
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John Hyatt, Leo Baekeland |
1837-1920, 1863-1944 |
USA, Belgium |
Chemists, developers of synthetic plastics |
Opened an important chapter in technological development |
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Henry Ford |
1863-1947 |
USA |
Pioneered mass production of automobile |
An architect of mass man and the modern landscape (both negatives), but an important perfector of technology |
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Orville and Wilbur Wright |
1867-1912, |
USA |
Inventors of first successful powered aircraft |
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Arthur Tansley, |
1871-1955, |
UK, USA |
Botanist, biologist who popularized concepts of ecology |
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| Fritz Haber | 1868-1934 | Prussia | Chemist; developed process for synthesizing ammonia | Haber process is one of many world-transforming developments in modern chemistry |
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Ludwig Rehn, |
1873-1944 |
Germany, |
Surgeons; Rehn performed suture on heart; Carrel demonstrated suture of blood vessels, preservation of organs |
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W.C. Handy, Gertrude Malissa Nix "Ma" Rainey |
1873-1958, |
USA |
Early popularizers of blues music |
Original inventors of folk blues music are unknown |
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Guglielmo Marconi |
1874-1937 |
Italy |
Developed long-distance radio transmitter |
Development of radio carrried on by others; Fessenden developed conversion of sound to radio waves, Edwin Armstrong invented radio receiver |
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Winston Churchill |
1874-1965 |
UK |
Statesman and prime minister during World War II |
Last notable political leader of British Empire |
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Albert Einstein |
1879-1955 |
Germany |
Physicist; developed theories of special relativity and general relativistic theory of gravitation, explained photoelectric effect using the quantum concept, contributed to statistical mechanics |
Justly praised, his theories are triumphs of imagination and logic |
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Robert Goddard |
1882-1945 |
Spain |
Physicist, built liquid-fuel rockets |
His rockets were toys, but von Braun and the Soviets would build on his work |
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Jose Ortega y Gasset |
1883-1955 |
Spain |
Philosopher, writer |
Criticized ideology of emerging middle class |
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John Maynard Keynes |
1883-1946 |
UK |
Economist, developed macroeconomic theory |
Unfortunately, promoted government regulation of business cycle |
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Erwin Schrodinger |
1887-1961 |
Austrian Empire |
Physicist; contributed fundamental concepts of quantum mechanics |
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Werner K. Heisenberg |
1901-1976 |
Germany |
Physicist; developed quantum (matrix) mechanics, formulated uncertainty principle |
Like Darwin and Wallace, Heisenberg and Schrodinger developed parallel theories independently |
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Paul Dirac |
1902-1984 |
UK |
Physicist, developed quantum theory of electron and positron |
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Johann von Neumann |
1903-1957 |
Hungary |
Mathematician; contributed to game theory |
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| John Bardeen | 1908-1991 | USA | Physicist; studied superconductivity and with William Shockley and Walter Brattain, invented transistor | |
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Nils Jerne |
1911-1994 |
UK |
Immunologist, advanced theories of immune system function |
Moved immunology to forefront of medicine |
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Sergei Korolev, |
1906-1966, |
Russian Empire (Ukraine), Germany |
Engineer-scientists who developed orbital rockets |
Most important contributors to rocketry and space exploration |
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Ilya Prigogine |
1917-2003 |
Russia |
Physicist-chemist, studied nonequilibrium dynamics, complexity |
Radical theorist who speculated about creation of matter, order in complex systems |