Great Britons

[paulcs]

One wonders how many people who voted for Dianna are alive today because of Sir Alexander Fleming's little discovery.

Einstein would be on my list of great Germans.

I'd stick Walter Gropius on my list as well. Between 1919 and 1933, Germany had a near unprecedented explosion of creativity, and the Bauhaus School changed the way damn near everything looked.

Let's not forget Karl Marx.

Paul

[KvHagedorn]

Well, the contributions of Hitler, Einstein, and Marx were all quite double-edged. I don't know about anyone else, but Death Camps, Atomic Bombs, and Bolshevism are quite enough to taint their respective legacies, IMHO.

[Novdid]

Yes, Einstein and Marx should be on the list.

There is quite a few to pick from, the Germans have the most impressive history in Europe.

Edit: Just a thought...maybe Franz Beckenbauer qualifies into the top 100, damn good footballer in his time.

[paulcs]

I'm sticking with Einstein and Marx as well. Atomic bombs and gulags were perversions of their legacies. I'd stick Immanuel Kant on that list as well.

You have to give Italy, France, and the United Kingdom their due.

Paul

[Chrono_Wanderer]

LOL why is Diana on the top 10 list ?

[paulcs]

Originally posted by Chrono_Wanderer
LOL why is Diana on the top 10 list ?

Because gossip is more important than penicillin.

Paul

[KRSESQ]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Chrono_Wanderer
LOL why is Diana on the top 10 list ?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Because gossip is more important than penicillin.

Or at least more entertaining.

Kevin

[Brian R.]

How about Schroedinger and Max Planck?

Also, I don't believe Richard Wagner belongs on the same list as Bach and Beethoven

[Sasq]

As an Ozzy (and a South Australian to boot) I feel the need to add a little to the penicillin comment http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/...ol10735_fm.pdf

Call it state pride or something

[KRSESQ]

I don't believe Richard Wagner belongs on the same list as Bach and Beethoven

Although his politics were reprehensible, his music was certainly exuberent. Der Ring Des Niebelungen practically gave us the modern definition of "Epic."

Kevin

[KvHagedorn]

Originally posted by KRSESQ
Although his politics were reprehensible, his music was certainly exuberent. Der Ring Des Niebelungen practically gave us the modern definition of "Epic."

Kevin

Do you even know the real truth behind his politics, or are you just aping the anti-Wagnerites? I put him there because his works did so much to express the Germanic spirit. So what if the Nazis enshrined his music? Many patriotic Germans did, and it is not a sin to be patriotic, in the sense of being positive about oneself (unless you are one of the millions brainwashed by the ADL, and if you are, you should be embarrassed.) If Wagner was such an anti-semite, why did he allow a Jew to conduct the premiere of Parzival,the opera he regarded as his most sacred? He is no less the victim of having his work and ideas perverted than is Einstein or Marx, though Marx's theories were utopian beyond credibility, and were merely a means for the unscrupuloius to come to power. Wagner is also one of the many Germans who had nothing to do with death camps who are victims of gross defamation, for which the ironically named Anti Defamation League seems to regard as its primary purpose in this world.

Einstein might deserve a place in the top 10, but certainly not Marx. If you will look at the list of 300 nominees Thop listed, you will find most of the people mentioned here. There are many who are vitally important and many who are not. How can you put Boris Becker in a league with Immanuel Kant? Again, Pft.

[Schorsch]

Originally posted by KvHagedorn
How can you put Boris Becker in a league with Immanuel Kant?

And where are Carl Friedrich Gauß, Georg Friedrich Händel (yes, I know that some Britons regard him as British ) and Ludwig Wittgenstein in the list of the nominatees? And why do Dieter Bohlen and Thomas Gottschalk appear in the list? It seems to be the same nonsense everywhere...

EDIT: Oh, I just saw that at least Händel IS in the list...oh well.

[Brian Ellis]

Originally posted by KvHagedorn
How can you put Boris Becker in a league with Immanuel Kant?

You kan't, of course

[KRSESQ]

Wagner's anti-semitism is extraordinarily well-documented. These are just a handful of the links I found:

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/music/wagner/general-faq/section-18.html

http://people.sabanciuniv.edu/~gkalay/pdfs/ubas.pdf

http://www.naxos.com/NewDesign/fopinions.files/bopinions.files/Music_News7.htm

Honest-to-God, I tried to find a ligitimate refutation of these "allegations," without success. If you can find convincing evidence that he DID NOT express his anti-semitism on numerous occasions, feel free to post a link.

As one writer stated, "Wagner's anti-Semitism is well documented, although he could admire individual Jews such as conductor Hermann Levi, who led the first Parsifal." Like most people, he could come to know and respect (and perhaps even like) individual members of a group he reviled, justifying it with the excuse that such individuals were "exceptional."

That is not to say that his music isn't magnificent. It just doesn't serve any purpose to ignor, deny, or whitewash his personal beliefs.

Kevin

[Brian R.]

My statement about Wagner vs Beethoven and Bach had nothing to do with his politics, only his music. I don't believe he made anywhere near the contribution to music that the other two did. Advances in length, volume, quantity, and subject are not reason for inclusion in an elite group.