Research Catalog

Title

Who's bigger? : where historical figures really rank / Steven Skiena, Charles B. Ward.

Author

Skiena, Steven S.

Publication

New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2014.

Supplementary Content

Cover image

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Ward, Charles, 1984-

Description

xii, 379 pages : illustrations; 24 cm

Summary

"Is Hitler bigger than Napoleon? Washington bigger than Lincoln? Picasso bigger than Einstein? Quantitative analysts are rapidly finding homes in social and cultural domains, from finance to politics. What about history? In this fascinating book, Steve Skiena and Charles Ward bring quantitative analysis to bear on ranking and comparing historical reputations. They evaluate each person by aggregating the traces of millions of opinions, just as Google ranks webpages. The book includes a technical discussion for readers interested in the details of the methods, but no mathematical or computational background is necessary to understand the rankings or conclusions. Did you know: - Got a spare billion dollars, and want to be remembered forever? Your best investment is to get a university named after you. - Women remain significantly underrepresented in the historical record compared to men and have long required substantially greater achievement levels to get equally noted for posterity. - The long-term prominence of Elvis Presley rivals that of the most famous classical composers. Roll over Beethoven, and tell Tchaikovsky the news! Along the way, the authors present the rankings of more than one thousand of history's most significant people in science, politics, entertainment, and all areas of human endeavor. Anyone interested in history or biography can see where their favorite figures place in the grand scheme of things. While revisiting old historical friends and making new ones, you will come to understand the forces that shape historical recognition in a whole new light"--

Subject

• Quantitative research

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 361-365) and index.

Contents

Part I. Quantitative History: 1. History's most significant people; 2. Ranking historical figures; 3. Who belongs in Bonnie's textbook?; 4. Reading through the past; 5. Great Americans and the process of canonization; 6. The baseball hall of fame; 7. Historical timescales -- Part II. Historical Rankings: 8. American political figures; 9. Modern world leaders; 10. Science and technology; 11. Religion and philosophy; 12. Sports; 13. The arts; 14. The performing arts; 15. Devils and angels --Appendix A. Ranking methodology -- Appendix B. Resources -- Appendix C. Biographical dictionary.

Call Number

JFE 14-2411

ISBN

• 9781107041370 (hardback)
• 1107041376 (hardback)

LCCN

2013032173

OCLC

856053169

Author

Skiena, Steven S., author.

Title

Who's bigger? : where historical figures really rank / Steven Skiena, Charles B. Ward.

Publisher

New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2014.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 361-365) and index.

Connect to:

Cover image

Added Author

Ward, Charles, 1984- author.

Research Call Number

JFE 14-2411