The 100 most influential figures in American history are selected by a team of historians engaged by The Atlantic Monthly.
Interestingly, only three living Americans made the list: Bill Gates (No. 54), James D. Watson (68) and Ralph Nader (96), and among those living Americans who got some votes from the panel but didn't make the Top 100 were Bob Dylan, Steve Jobs, Muhammed Ali and William F. Buckley.
I have some quibbles with a few of the selections. Both Margaret Mead and Rachel Carson had great influence, but both also did research that turned out to be fundamentally flawed. In Carson's case, the DDT ban her book engendered can be said to cause to this day the unnecessary deaths of millions of people annually from malaria.
And Margaret Mead's research has taken a beating over the years. As Peter Wood said, "Few anthropologists seem to think that she intentionally lied, but we are left with gradations from culpable negligence to inadvertent error." That's being kind.
Posted by dan at January 9, 2007 1:22 AM