The Most Influential People Across History
Find the most influential people in 24 academic disciplines and numerous subdisciplines
Find famous and important people related to your research. This is an excellent tool for research papers, topic papers, and building a bibliography. Using our influence-based algorithm, our rankings synthesize data from Wikipedia, Wikidata, Semantic Scholar, and CrossRef.
Students and researchers now have a fast and reliable way to find influential thinkers from 24 disciplines and 300 sub-disciplines (and growing). If you want to find history’s most influential philsosophers, or the world’s most influential mathematicians currently, now you can.
We also provide custom rankings of people by discipline as well as interviews with influential academics who are currently active.
To use this tool, select the discipline (and optional subdiscipline) relevant to your research, and specify influential academics by history, world, or US. Even results that are counterintuitive are often enlightening (our algorithm always picks up a signal).
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List of the most influential people in Philosophy,
#12451
Peter J. Stern
#157672
Overall Influence
#12452
William J. Scott
#157678
Overall Influence
#12453
H. Hunter Handsfield
#157682
Overall Influence
#12454
Leiyu Shi
#157687
Overall Influence
#12455
Jonathan Corren
#157692
Overall Influence
#12456
Chamaeleon
400 BC - 300 BC (100 years)
Chamaeleon , was a Peripatetic philosopher of Heraclea Pontica. He was one of the immediate disciples of Aristotle. He wrote works on several of the ancient Greek poets, namely:περὶ Ἀνακρέοντος - On Anacreonπερὶ Σαπφοῦς - On Sapphoπερὶ Σιμωνίδου - On Simonidesπερὶ Θεσπίδος - On Thespisπερὶ Αἰσχύλου - On Aeschylusπερὶ Λάσου - On Lasusπερὶ Πινδάρου - On Pindarπερὶ Στησιχόρου - On StesichorusHe also wrote on the Iliad, and on Comedy . In this last work he treated, among other subjects, of the dances of comedy. This work is quoted by Athenaeus by the title περὶ τῆς ἀρχαίας κωμῳδίας, which is also the title of a work by the Peripatetic philosopher Eumelus.
Go to Profile#12457
Robert B. Zurier
#157696
Overall Influence
#12458
Bernard Reginster
#140508
Overall Influence
Bernard Reginster is an American philosopher. He is the Romeo Elton Professor of Natural Theology at Brown University. Reginster is known for his expertise on philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, particularly Nietzschean affirmation. He is a recipient of Laurence S. Rockefeller Fellowship.
Go to Profile#12459
David Warburton
#157722
Overall Influence
#12460
Kurt Semm
#8640
Overall Influence
1927 - 2003 (76 years)
Kurt Karl Stephan Semm was a German gynecologist and pioneer in minimally invasive surgery. He has been called "the father of modern laparoscopy". Biography Semm was born to Margarete and Karl Semm in Munich where he attended the Realgymnasium. At the end of World War II he was drafted for the Wehrmacht at the age of 16 and became briefly a Soviet prisoner of war. Upon his return he worked as a toolmaker, before, in 1946, he was able to begin his medical studies at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. He received his MD degree in 1951 and worked at the II. Universitäts-Frauenklinik München.
Go to Profile#12461
Gerald David Weinstein
#157762
Overall Influence
#12462
Patrick Christopher Steptoe
#157763
Overall Influence
#12463
Thomas Bardin
#157775
Overall Influence
#12464
Cheng‐xin Gong
#157780
Overall Influence
#12465
Madhava Tirtha
#133349
Overall Influence
Madhava Tirtha was a Hindu philosopher, scholar and the third pontiff of Madhvacharya peetha, from 1333 to 1350, succeeding Narahari Tirtha. Life Works According to S. K. and Gurucarya, he wrote a commentary on Parasara Smriti called Parasara Madhwa-vijaya. He also made commentaries on Rigveda, Yajurveda and Samaveda. His disciple, Sri Madhuhari Teertha, founded a mutt which exists under the name "Majjigenahalli Matha" near Mulbagal.
Go to Profile#12466
Edward Daniel Clarke
1769 - 1822 (53 years)
Edward Daniel Clarke was an English clergyman, naturalist, mineralogist, and traveller. Life Edward Daniel Clarke was born at Willingdon, Sussex, and educated first at Uckfield School and then at Tonbridge.
Go to Profile#12467
Douglas C. Mccrory
#157830
Overall Influence
#12468
Barton A. Kamen
#157842
Overall Influence
#12469
Peter Poellner
#78776
Overall Influence
Peter Poellner is a professor of philosophy at the University of Warwick. is research interests include phenomenology, philosophy of value, philosophy of mind, Husserl, Nietzsche. According to Brian Leiter, he has challenged the view that libertarian views of free will and moral responsibility are central to Western religious, moral, and cultural traditions.
Go to Profile#12470
Michael Baum
#17514
Overall Influence
1937 - Present (89 years)
Michael Baum , Professor Emeritus of Surgery and visiting Professor of Medical Humanities in University College London , is a British surgical oncologist who specialises in breast cancer treatment. He is also known for his contributions to the evaluation and support of patient quality of life. He has been Professor of Surgery in King's College London, the Royal Marsden Hospital and UCL. He is a notable critic of alternative medicine.
Go to Profile#12471
Ronald J. Stoney
#157858
Overall Influence
#12472
A. Miller J.l. Larson
#157872
Overall Influence
#12473
Patricia A. Gabow
#157888
Overall Influence
#12474
Wojciech Wojakowski
#157904
Overall Influence
1970 - Present (56 years)
#12475
Naji Abumrad
#35720
Overall Influence
Naji N. Abumrad is a Lebanese-American surgeon, currently the John L. Sawyers Professor of Surgery, and formerly the Paul W. Sanger Professor from 1984 to 1992, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Abumrad graduated with a B.S. in Biology and an M.D. in Medicine at the American University of Beirut in 1971. In 2014, he was elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Go to Profile#12476
Cor R. W. J. Cremers
#157931
Overall Influence
#12477
Jorge D. Reyes
#157940
Overall Influence
Jorge D. Reyes is an American surgeon and academic. Reyes is focused on enhancing organ transplant options and availability, improving outcomes post-transplant, and minimizing immunosuppression and tolerance induction. Reyes is currently the Roger K. Giesecke Distinguished Chair in Transplant Surgery at the University of Washington.
Go to Profile#12478
Dirk Rades
#157949
Overall Influence
#12479
Peter W. P. T. Pisters
#157963
Overall Influence
#12481
Carlos Rodríguez‐galindo
#157967
Overall Influence
#12482
Ifor Williams
1881 - 1965 (84 years)
Sir Ifor Williams, was a Welsh scholar who laid the foundations for the academic study of Old Welsh, particularly early Welsh poetry. Early life and education Ifor Williams was born at Pendinas, Tregarth near Bangor, Wales, the son of John Williams, a quarryman, and his wife Jane. His maternal grandfather, Hugh Derfel Hughes, was a noted local historian who wrote a well-regarded book on the history of the area. He went to Friars School, Bangor, in 1894 but had only been there for just over a year when he suffered a serious accident. This left him with back injuries that made him bedridden fo...
Go to Profile#12483
Benjamin Lebwohl
#157984
Overall Influence
#12484
Rajesh Pahwa
#157995
Overall Influence
#12485
Timothy Joseph Gardner
#158000
Overall Influence
#12486
Pierre Coriat
#158013
Overall Influence
#12487
J. Timothy Smith
#158014
Overall Influence
#12488
Paul R. Manske
#158037
Overall Influence
#12489
Yohann Loriot
#158042
Overall Influence
#12490
Kevin E. O’grady
#158061
Overall Influence
#12491
Ed Halter
#52332
Overall Influence
Ed Halter is a film programmer, writer, and founder of Light Industry, a microcinema in Brooklyn, New York. He currently teaches at Bard College, where he is Critic in Residence. Criticism His writing has been featured in Artforum, The Believer, Bookforum, Cinema Scope, frieze, Little Joe, Mousse, Rhizome, Triple Canopy, and Village Voice. Halter is interested in the intersection of video games, digital media, and American experimental film.
Go to Profile#12492
Bahram Mokri
#158114
Overall Influence
#12493
David L. Katz
#18373
Overall Influence
1963 - Present (63 years)
David L. Katz is an American physician, nutritionist and writer. He was the founding director of the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center that was founded at Griffin Hospital in 1998. Katz is the founder of True Health Initiative and is an advocate of plant-predominant diets.
Go to Profile#12494
Stanley H. Kleven
#158125
Overall Influence
#12495
Guido Finazzi
#158153
Overall Influence
#12496
Douglas Harding
#26970
Overall Influence
1909 - 2007 (98 years)
Douglas Edison Harding was an English philosophical writer, mystic, spiritual teacher and author of a number of books, including On Having No Head: Zen and the Rediscovery of the Obvious , which describes simple techniques he invented for readers to experience the non-duality of consciousness.
Go to Profile#12497
Peter Greenwald
#158170
Overall Influence
#12498
Mark V. Braimbridge
#158172
Overall Influence
#12499
Alexander I. Spira
#158176
Overall Influence
#12500
Armine C. Ernst
#158184
Overall Influence
