Dean's World

Well these things are always necessarily a bit slippery, since about half the population of "interesting people" lived part of their lives in two different centuries. Nevertheless, Tesla was dubbed within his lifetime as "the man who invented the 20th century," and most of his inventions came into widespread use during that century. And some of his most radical, wizard-like inventions were unveiled after 1901--including his infamous "death ray" (he is the originator of that term). He was also, after years of dispute, finally granted a patent on radio in the early 20th century--effectively at that point, the US Patent office recognized him as the father of radio, not Marconi. And as I say, while some of his most important innovations were in the late 19th century, most came into widespread prominence in the 20th. Alternating current, x-ray machines, RADAR, remote controlled devices, vertical take-off and landing aircraft, tesla coils, radio itself, RADAR.... the list is rather stunning.

The fact that to this day no one's ever figured out how he intentionally triggered earthquakes simply boggles the mind. He might even be considered the father of the SETI project, as he seems to have been the first person to set up efforts to look for signals from aliens and to try to transmit to them.

But you don't say who *your* nominee would be I notice.... ;l-)

All three are fine nominations, Dave. None fascinate me quite as much as the mad wizard Tesla, but then it's not just about who fasinates me. :-)

I'd have assumed that was Edison, unless the patents were in the name of his labl or company.

I couldn't think of anyone better to nominate offhand. Heck, I've had 4 cups of coffee now and I still can't. I'd tend to agree with you.

Sadly, people still name Marconi if asked the inventor of radio. Heck, I'd forgotten Tesla in that regard.

Anyway, it's not just depth of thought or discovery or even impact on the world that I think we are talking about by "fascinating." It's also, well, fascinatingness. Tesla was a unique character, on top of everything else.

For me, it's a tough call between Lenin, Hitler, and Woodrow Wilson.

The great 20th-century technological inventions were definitely world-changing, but so were the very 19th-century reactions to the changes in society forged by those technological inventions. Our reach was tremendously extended, but our understanding was not, and millions died while we struggled to update our thinking.

Lenin and Hitler represented opposite sides of a debate that should not have happened. Hitler was a blaze of sinister glory, the depth of whose character has tainted Western culture ever since. Lenin was far less flashy, but far more effective; the ideas he unleashed, as carried out by lesser acolytes, lasted nearly a century, and corroded their societies far more insidiously. Which has turned out to do the most damage? Perhaps Hitler was Lenin's unwitting ally, in that the Nazis provided ideological cover for Communist atrocity? These questions fascinate me.

History often rides on a knife's edge, and the actors usually have no idea at the time. That 1918 was such a time seems obvious now. Both sides in the Great War were working with forces far beyond their grasp; only one leader of the time seems to have had the vision to foresee what was coming. Had that leader, the President of the United States, had the strength and courage of a Teddy Roosevelt (or even of his cousin Franklin), how might the rest of the century have looked? But the world looked to a mild-mannered college professor instead, and in the moment of greatest need, he faltered. And thus did the gruesome debate between Lenin and Hitler commence.

The Wilson presidency is often looked at as a failure. Few world leaders, however, have failed in such a successful fashion. The ideas he tried to champion have been vindicated in the breach, and today claim an influence beyond even his own wildest dreams. When we debate the merits of the United Nations, and of transnational institutions in general, it is his "failure" we are still trying to grapple with. And, perhaps, it is truly his failure--the breaking of his will, and his health--that cripples the modern incarnations of his vision.

It can be argued that the technological changes wrought by people like Tesla, Marconi, Einstein, and Turing were inevitable; since they represent truths about the universe as it is, someone would have discovered them had those worthies not done so. Perhaps our progress would have been delayed, had not those geniuses stepped up to the plate.

But the political history of the 20th century did not have to happen as it did, and could have been avoided. As with the American Civil War of the 19th century, it seems that the actions of a few changed the course of history, whether for better (Lincoln) or worse (Wilson). If I could choose, I would hope for a Lincoln of the 21st century, and not a Wilson. How to find that person, and what the lessons of the past can teach us about our current search, seems both more fascinating and more important to me than the largely solved problem of encouraging beneficial technological change.

To answer one question above, Edison has more patents in his name, however, he was famous for putting patents in his name that employees had actually come up with. Not all of them of course--he really was a genius--but it's hards to know in many cases whether they were really his or someone in his employ; he was not good about giving credit or recognition to the people who worked for him. Indeed, he was quite a bastard according to most who knew him. (So was Isaac Newton for that matter).

Tesla's inventions in the 20th century by the way included the bladeless power turbine, RADAR, and VTOL aircraft. He also claimed late in life to have discovered a unified field theory, but it was never published before he died. I've always been curious what it was. ;-)

Most fascinating persons of the 20th century:

Mao Tse Tung and John Paul II

As for the most fascinating man of the 20th century, maybe Bill Gates. At least if Vista works as well as the test results from the Longhorn project.

Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI

Okay. Richard Feynman was a fine man.

Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI

If we were to throw out Tesla as a 19th century figure I'd go with a guy like Richard Feynman or Kary Mullis.

For most women throughout most of the 20th century, the realities of childbearing simply made that prohibitive. That becomes less true as a society advances, although I suspect it will always be partly true.

However, Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher, and Lynn Margulis all come to mind.

Your question is ultimately a subjective one, but it makes for some interesting possibilities. For one, consider the life of a man who spent most of his childhood in a religious reform school, and was considered "incorrigible" for most of that time. Yet, thirty years after he left that school to pursue his chosen career, the soldiers of the Japanese Empire could come up with nothing more insulting to throw back at American soldiers in response to insults to their Emperor than to shout back "Screw Babe Ruth!" It doesn't make the Babe the most fascinating figure of the 20th Century--but it is a fascinating aspect of our society that a man with such undistinguished beginnings could come to have such importance.

Really? Someone was supplying DC current to Manhattan? Got a link?

I'm going with Winston S. Churchill.