Who's bigger? : where historical figures really rank / Steven Skiena, Stony Brook University, New York, Charles Ward.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Skiena, Steven S., author.

Ward, Charles, 1984- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Quantitative research.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 379 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2014.

Language Note:

English

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. 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.

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.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-107-46177-4

1-139-89331-9

1-107-45959-1

1-107-47344-6

1-107-47246-6

1-107-46885-X

1-107-46531-1

1-139-64960-4

OCLC:

867317421