How could it be that Louis Pasteur is not on this list?
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* Dr. Sara Fraenkel *
* Curator of Rare books and Manuscripts *
* Bar-Ilan University Library *
* Ramat Gan 52900 (Israel) *
* Tel.: 972 03 531 8225 *
* Fax: 972 03 534 9233 *
* E-mail: sarafr@mail.biu.ac.il *
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On Sun, 28 Nov 1999, Museum Security Network wrote:
> Gutenberg is man of the millennium
> John Harlow, Social Affairs Editor
>
> JOHANN GUTENBERG, the medieval German goldsmith who invented the printing
> press, has been voted The Sunday Times Man of the Millennium in a unique poll
> of the world's most powerful and influential people.
>
> Winston Churchill, the prime minister who inspired Britain to defeat Germany in
> the second world war, was voted the most significant figure of the 20th century.
>
> Whereas most polls depend on votes from the public, we asked 100 world leaders,
> artists and scientists judged by their peers as influential figures in The
> Sunday Times Powerlist 1999 to propose people they considered the most
> significant figures of the past 1,000 years.
>
> The results were often unexpected.Boris Yeltsin, the Russian president, voted
> for Andrei Sakharov, the Soviet scientist who built the first Russian H-bomb and
> then spent the rest of his life protesting against it, winning the Nobel peace
> prize in 1975. He died in 1989.
>
> Many found it a tough question. White House sources said Bill Clinton was torn
> between John F Kennedy, his boyhood idol, and Martin Luther King, the civil
> rights leader, for his 20th century vote. But he felt Thomas Jefferson, author
> of the American Declaration of Independence, was a "strong contender" for the
> millennium title.
>
> Overall, however, it was scientists and engineers rather than politicians or
> artists who have shaped the millennium. Gutenberg (c1398-1468) was the clear
> winner, although he remainsa semi-mythical figure whose adoption of a wine
> press to print moveable type soaked in linseed oil and soot onto paper is
> mentioned in only three contemporary documents. William Caxton imported the
> technology into England.
>
> Eric Fellner, of WorkingTitle films, voted for Gutenberg and Shakespeare: "Both
> created a universal form of communication, one physical and one emotional. But
> if you have to choose just one communicator, Gutenberg's the man."
>
> Lord Stevenson, the businessman and arts patron, voted for Gutenberg and Tim
> Berners-Lee, the Briton who devised the world wide web. "Both have been central
> to the spread of knowledge," he said.
>
> Keynes, the economist, also featured as a social reformer. Visionaries such as
> Leonardo da Vinci and Albert Einstein continue to make an impression. Richard
> Sykes, chairman of Glaxo Wellcome, said: "Einstein's articulation of the nature
> of space and time changed our understanding of the universe."
>
> Engineers, too, have made their mark. Frank Whittle, inventor of the jet engine,
> only just eclipsed Alan Turing, the mathematician who made possible the first
> modern computer. By comparison, Bill Gates, who synthesised computer systems to
> devise the first global computer language, aroused as many negative comments as
> marks of appreciation.
>
> Francis Crick and James Watson, the Cambridge duo who unravelled the secrets of
> DNA and laid down the roadmap for bio-engineering, which may be the most
> important science of the next century, were popular choices. Richard Branson,
> the Virgin tycoon, said they would either be regarded as the saviours of mankind
> or the opposite, "and I believe it will be as saviours."
>
> Medical advances were recognised. Alex Ferguson, manager of Manchester United,
> said: "It is hard to believe that any individual in the 20th century did more
> good than Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin." Fleming also won
> votes from Ian Craft, the IVF pioneer, Chris Evans, the scientist, and Ann
> Widdecombe, shadow home secretary.
>
> Helena Cronin, the science writer and a member of the Powerlist judging panel,
> said she was delighted by the prominence of scientists. "People are thinking
> about influence rather than just power. There are obvious omissions from the top
> 20, such as Charles Darwin, but it appears to be a remarkably thoughtful poll."
>
> The influence of religious leaders was registered: Jesus Christ held a unique
> place, as did Mohammed, the 7th century founder of Islam. George Carey, the
> Archbishop of Canterbury, voted for Thomas Cranmer, the protestant martyr, and
> Jonas Salk, discoverer of the polio vaccine.
>
> There were few women, with only Elizabeth I making the top 20. Fiona Reynolds,
> director of the women's unit in the Cabinet Office, threw her weight behind
> Boadicea and, by contrast, Barbie: "She may only be a doll but she is also an
> image of can-do woman," she said.
>
> Not all the nominations were so beloved. Joseph Stalin was nominated by Sean
> Connery, not in approval but in recognition of the destruction he caused. Owain
> Glyndwr, the last of the Welsh princes, was admired for his doomed resistance
> against the English and some regarded him as the first anti-European. Many
> musicians were also nominated, from Mozart to Chuck Berry.
>
> Churchill remains widely popular. John Bridgeman, director-general of the Office
> of Fair Trading, said that the nation still owed everything to the wartime
> premier whose leadership meant that Britain is able to enter the next millennium
> as a rich and powerful nation.
>
> Additional reporting: Violeta Radovic, Maja Dragovic, Ann Park, York Membery,
> Joseph McHugh and Nick Rodrigues
>
> Makers of the millennium
>
>
> 1. Johann Gutenberg
> 2. William Shakespeare
> 3. William Caxton
> 4. Leonardo da Vinci
> 5. Elizabeth I
> 6. Michael Faraday
> 7. Owain Glyndwr
> 8. Sir isaac Newton
> 9. Abraham lincoln
> 10. Galileo
>
>
>
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