Interesting reads: The 100

I guess this book needs no introduction, as most of us already know that Michael H. Hart has placed our beloved Prophet Muhammad at the top of the list as the most influential person in history. The top 5 of the list is mostly dominated by religious leaders, while the rest consists of scientists, inventors, political leaders, philosophers and explorers.

It is interesting how these people became to be so influential. Some by sheer luck, like how Becquerel discovered radioactivity; while some through being ruthless and ambitious (like Hitler or Pizarro). There are also those through who achieved recognition through years of hard work and dedication (like Mendel who discovered basic principles of heredity, carried out about 21000 experiments); but most impressive and motivating are the story of those who raise above the odds... Beethoven was deaf, John Dalton suffered from color blindness... and of course our beloved Prophet who was orphan and illiterate.

Although the book did help to broaden my general knowledge on history, I'm rather disappointed that there are none of the Islamic scholar in the list. I believe Ibn Sina (Avincenna) and Jabir ibn Khayyan (Geber) deserve a place in the list more than Pablo Picasso or Gregory Pincus. Watching the documentary 'Science & Islam' on the History Channel, it is said that Copernicus obtained his idea from the works of Islamic scholar, but there is no mention of that in this book.

However, I think Hart has tried his best to come up with the list and gave good reasons on why his opinions or the rankings are as such. At the beginning of the book, Hart did challenge his readers to come up with their own list! Anyone wanna try???


P.S.: Thanks to Azizan for lending me the book =)