Who's Bigger?

Quantitative analysts are rapidly finding homes in social and cultural domains, from finance to politics. Why not history? In this fascinating book, Steven Skiena and Charles Ward bring quantitative analysis to bear on ranking and comparing historical reputations. They evaluate scores of famous and historical figures by collecting traces of millions of opinions – just as Google ranks webpages. Trends in historical significance show that if you’ve got a spare billion dollars, and want to be remembered forever, your best investment is to get a university named after you; that women remain significantly underrepresented in the historical record compared to men, and require substantially greater achievements to get equally noted for posterity; and that the long-term prominence of Elvis Presley rivals that of the most famous classical composers.

Along the way, the authors present the rankings of more than 1,000 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 rank in the grand scheme of significance. You will come to understand the forces that shape historical recognition in a whole new light. 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 surprising conclusions.