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A View from the Year 3000: A Ranking of the 100 Most Influential Persons of All Time
This book speculates about the important inventions, scientific discoveries, and political and social developments, which may occur during the coming millennium. It does this by presenting -- through the eyes of a fictitious author living in the year 3000 -- a list of the 100 men and women who have had the greatest impact on world history and on the everyday lives of individuals. The hundred persons are ranked in order of their influence. The main section of the book consists of short biographies of those 100 persons, describing what each person accomplished, and why that person is so important. Forty-five of the entries are actual historical personages. These include such well known figures as Jesus Christ, Confucius, Charles Darwin, Christopher Columbus, Albert Einstein, and George Washington. Among the fifty-five entries from the third millennium Sue Ellen Green (who develops a cancer vaccine); Miguel Carranza (chief founder of the United World Federation); Stella Ricardo Garcia (architect and formscaper); Mika Kivikoski (who develops the technology to control the weather); and Shu Gungwu (who finds the solution to the baffling "mind-body problem"). Other topics treated space travel and space colonies; medical advances (such as artificial organs, and reversible sex-change operations); arts and entertainment (including music, literature, the visual arts, and sports and games); solar power; philosophy (including political theory, epistemology, semantics, and ethics); mathematics, pollution control, robots, brainwashing; nuclear warfare; robots; and artificial intelligence. The book includes a historical chart (listing the main events of both the actual past and the projected future), a list of honorable mentions (and their accomplishments); a glossary, and an extensive index.
- GenresHistory
430 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 1999
About the author
Michael H. Hart
9 books250 followersMichael H. Hart (born April 28, 1932 in New York City) is an astrophysicist who has also written three books on history and controversial articles on a variety of subjects. Hart describes himself as a Jeffersonian liberal, while his critics call him a conservative and a racial separatist.
Hart, a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science who enlisted in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, received his undergraduate degree at Cornell University in mathematics and later earned a Ph.D. in astrophysics at Princeton University. He also holds graduate degrees in physics, astronomy, and computer science, as well as a law degree. He was a research scientist at NASA before leaving to be a professor of physics at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. He has also taught both astronomy and history of science at Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold, Maryland. His published work in peer-reviewed scientific journals includes several detailed computer simulations of atmospheric evolution.
Among Hart's articles was one, published in 1975, that gave scientific support for the conclusion that the only intelligent life in the Milky Way Galaxy resides on the planet Earth.
His first book was The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History, which has sold more than 500,000 copies and been translated into 15 languages. What mainly surprised readers in this book was the first person on Hart's list (Hart, 1992). Hart decided to choose Muhammad over Jesus or Moses. Hart attributes this to the fact that Muhammad was "supremely successful" in both the religious and secular realms. He also accredits the authorship of the Qur'an to Muhammad, making his role in the development of Islam far more influential than Jesus' collaboration in the development of Christianity. He attributes the development of Christianity to St. Paul, who played a pivotal role in the dissemination of Christianity.
His third book, A View from the Year 3000, published in 1999, is a history of the future which includes both technological advances and political developments.
His fourth book, Understanding Human History, is a history of humanity.
One of Hart's articles disputed the authorship of the literary works of Shakespeare, asserting that the famous plays and poems were in fact written by Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford rather than the man from Stratford-on-Avon who is credited with them.
Another paper suggested that a future of Yugoslavia-type ethnic conflict in the United States could be avoided by a voluntary partition of the country into three states: an integrated mixed-race state, a white state, and a black state.[1]
In 1996, Hart addressed a conference organized by Jared Taylor's race-realist organization, American Renaissance, on the need for a racial partition of the United States.[2] Hart proposed a three-way division with one part for white separatists, one part for black separatists, and one part left as multiracial nation. He said that a peaceful, voluntary partition is the only way to prevent violence.[3]
At the 2006 American Renaissance conference, Hart had a public confrontation with David Duke, the former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and former Louisiana state representative, over Duke's "antisemitic" remarks.[4][5]
Hart organized a conference held in Baltimore in 2009 with the title, Preserving Western Civilization. It was billed as addressing the need to defend "America’s Judeo-Christian heritage and European identity" from immigrants, Muslims, and African Americans.[6] Invited speakers included: Lawrence Auster, Peter Brimelow, Steven Farron, Julia Gorin, Lino A. Graglia, Henry C. Harpending, Roger D. McGrath, Pat Richardson, J. Philippe Rushton, Srdja Trifković, and Brenda Walker.[7]
Hart, a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science who enlisted in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, received his undergraduate degree at Cornell University in mathematics and later earned a Ph.D. in astrophysics at Princeton University. He also holds graduate degrees in physics, astronomy, and computer science, as well as a law degree. He was a research scientist at NASA before leaving to be a professor of physics at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. He has also taught both astronomy and history of science at Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold, Maryland. His published work in peer-reviewed scientific journals includes several detailed computer simulations of atmospheric evolution.
Among Hart's articles was one, published in 1975, that gave scientific support for the conclusion that the only intelligent life in the Milky Way Galaxy resides on the planet Earth.
His first book was The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History, which has sold more than 500,000 copies and been translated into 15 languages. What mainly surprised readers in this book was the first person on Hart's list (Hart, 1992). Hart decided to choose Muhammad over Jesus or Moses. Hart attributes this to the fact that Muhammad was "supremely successful" in both the religious and secular realms. He also accredits the authorship of the Qur'an to Muhammad, making his role in the development of Islam far more influential than Jesus' collaboration in the development of Christianity. He attributes the development of Christianity to St. Paul, who played a pivotal role in the dissemination of Christianity.
His third book, A View from the Year 3000, published in 1999, is a history of the future which includes both technological advances and political developments.
His fourth book, Understanding Human History, is a history of humanity.
One of Hart's articles disputed the authorship of the literary works of Shakespeare, asserting that the famous plays and poems were in fact written by Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford rather than the man from Stratford-on-Avon who is credited with them.
Another paper suggested that a future of Yugoslavia-type ethnic conflict in the United States could be avoided by a voluntary partition of the country into three states: an integrated mixed-race state, a white state, and a black state.[1]
In 1996, Hart addressed a conference organized by Jared Taylor's race-realist organization, American Renaissance, on the need for a racial partition of the United States.[2] Hart proposed a three-way division with one part for white separatists, one part for black separatists, and one part left as multiracial nation. He said that a peaceful, voluntary partition is the only way to prevent violence.[3]
At the 2006 American Renaissance conference, Hart had a public confrontation with David Duke, the former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and former Louisiana state representative, over Duke's "antisemitic" remarks.[4][5]
Hart organized a conference held in Baltimore in 2009 with the title, Preserving Western Civilization. It was billed as addressing the need to defend "America’s Judeo-Christian heritage and European identity" from immigrants, Muslims, and African Americans.[6] Invited speakers included: Lawrence Auster, Peter Brimelow, Steven Farron, Julia Gorin, Lino A. Graglia, Henry C. Harpending, Roger D. McGrath, Pat Richardson, J. Philippe Rushton, Srdja Trifković, and Brenda Walker.[7]
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 4, 2024
I enjoyed this book and found it interesting. I thought that since 45 of the people in this book were also in the previous book, and since their brief biographies were very similar and in some places identical, it felt a little less novel. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the ideas about where humanity might be heading. Some predictions appear to have been prophetic, and others misjudged, but overall it is a good bit of fun and worth a read.
January 4, 2008
This is an entertaining mixture of futurism and science fiction from the author of the bestselling book "The Hundred." The premise is that an ancestor of the author has discovered the original book, a effort to identify and rank the one hundred most important persons in human history, and he has decided to try to revise and update the manuscript to make it relevant to contemporary readers in the year 3000.
Using the same format, the book revises the original list by deleting those geniuses, inventors, authors, politicians and religious leaders whose influence has waned and by adding fictional profiles of prominent figures from the intervening thousand years. Some historical figures from the past remained relevant, others were replaced by members of the future generations.
I found this book to be fun to read. The premise permitted Hart to use his imagination and to be playful in his predictions.
Using the same format, the book revises the original list by deleting those geniuses, inventors, authors, politicians and religious leaders whose influence has waned and by adding fictional profiles of prominent figures from the intervening thousand years. Some historical figures from the past remained relevant, others were replaced by members of the future generations.
I found this book to be fun to read. The premise permitted Hart to use his imagination and to be playful in his predictions.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews