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Re: Biography's top 100 list
Posted By: Howard, on host 205.184.139.70
Date: Tuesday, October 12, 1999, at 12:04:28
In Reply To: Biography's top 100 list posted by Balanthalus on Tuesday, October 12, 1999, at 08:54:10:

> Over the last 2 days, Biography aired its 100 most influential people of the millenium special. The whole thing reminded me of Sam's series of Site Journal posts about the subjectivity of choosing the century's best movies.
>
> Anyway, I could live with most of their top choices (Galileo and Einstein were in the top 10, Newton was #2 and Guttenburg was #1) but there were some that baffled me. For instance, the fact that Princess Diana was on the list at all, and the fact that she beat the man who built the Ottoman Empire and the man who headed the Manhattan Project.
>
> Also, in some cases the makers of the show seemed to care more about who an achievement is popularly attributied to than who is actually responsible (ex Descartes and the coordinate system).
> I'd write more, but I'm short on time. So, what does everyone else think?
>
> -Balanthalus

The key word is "influential" and that makes it a judgment call. I've been influenced by people that you may not have noticed. It depends on who is making the call.
Howard
Howard