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[Competition: This list features a competition—check the first comment for more information.] This is another compilation of human endeavors, but it spans across ten of the most influential facets of human history, covering both ancient and modern times. While most will likely agree with the choices, some may raise objections—feel free to share your opinions in the comments. I have also included a book recommendation for each subject on the list for those wishing to dive deeper—this ties into the ongoing competition associated with the list.
10. Politics Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus
Runners-up: Alfred the Great, Suarez (theoretical), Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Abraham Lincoln.
In this lister's view, he stands as one of the few truly admirable leaders in history. While he had his flaws, such as being a notorious womanizer who used his influence to woo any woman who caught his eye, he can be forgiven for such behavior. There’s a Clinton joke somewhere in that.
However, Augustus' personal vices can be overlooked, especially considering he was never a tyrant. He never allowed his immense power to completely corrupt him and dedicated over four decades to transforming Rome into the greatest city the world had ever seen.
It may have already been an exceptional city, but Augustus elevated it even further. Remember, he took control after Rome had been embroiled in nearly two centuries of internal conflict. By 27 BC, the city was on the verge of collapse after enduring the worst of its civil wars: the First Triumvirate with Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus, followed by the Second Triumvirate, where Octavian (Augustus), Marc Antony, and Lepidus fought for dominance, leaving no clear ruler. Even the Senate had lost its grip on power. But when Augustus declared himself Emperor, the infighting ceased almost overnight. He quickly won the hearts of the people.
His reign solidified the Pax Romana, a period from approximately 130 BC to 180 AD, when the Roman Republic/Empire was virtually indestructible, with no foreign power daring to challenge it. Augustus emerged at a critical moment when, following the Second Triumvirate and years of civil war, the Roman state was on the brink of collapse. Augustus brought stability and order. Among his many reforms, he created Rome’s first official fire brigade, employing between 500 and 1,000 men across 14 districts of the city. He also established the first official police force and, with foreign threats at bay, formed a professional standing army of approximately 170,000 soldiers. Additionally, he repaired and significantly advanced Italy's road system.
He abolished private tax farming, transforming it into a civil service that provided food to the public at lower prices. He introduced the first official census and a flat-rate tax system, with each province's citizens paying a set annual tax.
This doesn't even account for all the incredible structures he had built.
Augustus brought order to the empire's finances, which had been severely disrupted by the civil wars, causing wild fluctuations in the value of assets. He donated 170 million sesterces (a staggering sum) to create a pension fund for both active and retired soldiers throughout the empire. This earned him the undying loyalty of the soldiers, making any coup impossible. But it wasn’t just the soldiers who admired him—citizens and senators alike were also on his side. He exemplified Machiavelli’s idea that the best leader is the one who rules through love, with the second-best being one who rules through fear. The worst, of course, are those whose people despise them—and there have certainly been many rulers who fit that description.
He might just be the greatest benevolent dictator in history.
Further Reading: Augustus: The Life of Rome’s First Emperor
9. Applied Mechanics (Inventing) Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci
Runners-up: Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison.
No introduction is required. It’s well-known that he conceptualized the precursor to the modern robot (though the true artificial intelligence robot still remains a creation of the future). Da Vinci's vision was of a small cart powered by a strong spring. The exterior was wooden, while the internal framework was made of steel. He imagined using several of these carts, all identical in size and shape, to move around inside his house, delivering drinks and food to guests. The carts were designed to turn at the right doorways using wooden disks with holes that triggered cogs and gears inside, guiding the cart in different directions at the right moments. The food and drinks would be placed on flat surfaces atop the cart. Replicas of his design, based on his intricate drawings and notes, have been made and they actually work.
He also invented the first effective parachute, constructed with a balsa wood frame and silk fabric, shaped like an inverted pyramid. However, he never dared to test it himself. It wasn’t until 2000 that a skydiver named Adrian Nicholas gave it a try—and it worked. Unfortunately, Nicholas died five years later when his modern parachute failed to open.
Da Vinci also invented the sniper scope for firearms (muskets in his time), essentially attaching one of his smaller telescopes to the top of a musket. He also created pivoting scissors, a significant improvement over earlier designs that used spring mechanisms, which had the disadvantage of becoming deformed if overextended. His design used two pieces of metal revolving around a central bolt. Da Vinci’s scissors design remains remarkably unchanged to this day. Additionally, he designed the first successful hang glider, inspired by the flight mechanics of bird wings—two centuries before Bernoulli could explain the principles behind it.
He invented the tank, constructed from thick oak and powered by four to six men turning iron wheels via a crankshaft, while four other men inside operated the cannons to fire at enemy foot soldiers. There is no record of the tank ever being used in battle, but had it been, it would have been impervious to the arrows, axes, and swords of its time. While it could have been set ablaze, its sheer presence would have frightened anyone from attempting to approach it. It was the equivalent of the tripods in H.G. Wells’s *The War of the Worlds*.
He came very close to inventing the helicopter. He just lacked an engine powerful enough to keep it airborne, as the combustion engine wouldn’t be developed for quite some time. He also invented the steam cannon, which was nearly as powerful, and much faster and cheaper to reload, than a traditional gunpowder cannon. Additionally, he improved hydraulic pumps and invented the stabilizing artillery projectile—what we now recognize as a rocket, with stabilizing fins, in contrast to a simple cannonball or conical projectile. He is credited with inventing thousands of other things.
Further Reading: *How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day*
8. Sculpting Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni
Runners-up: Bernini, Donatello.
Da Vinci was a true polymath, excelling in almost every field of his time, including sculpture. However, when it came to sculpting, he chose to step aside for the young and ambitious Michelangelo. The story goes that a 13-foot high block of marble was cut from the Carrara quarry, about 60 miles up in the Apennine Mountains from Florence, with the intent to carve an Old Testament figure. Agostino, a student of Donatello, was hired for the job, but after roughly carving the legs and creating a hole between them, he abandoned the project. When Donatello passed away, the unfinished block sat exposed to the elements outside a Florence cathedral. The Operai, the group responsible for commissioning sculptures, pleaded with da Vinci to salvage it before it weathered beyond repair, as marble was both costly to cut and transport. Da Vinci refused, citing that the stone had cracked and was now significantly shorter due to erosion, making any figure carved from it too small.
Instead, Da Vinci suggested the work be given to the young Michelangelo, who had already proven his sculpting talent with his Pieta. Michelangelo, just 26 years old, accepted the commission, took the much-needed payment, and four years later, he completed his masterpiece: David.
Michelangelo's other most renowned sculpture, the Pieta, depicts the Virgin Mary holding the body of her deceased Son, moments after His crucifixion. In addition to his sculpting work, Michelangelo also painted occasionally and designed the iconic dome of St. Peter's Basilica.
Further Reading: *The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo*
7. Rhetoric Marcus Tullius Cicero
Runners-up: Quintilian, Thucydides, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Sir Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Martin Luther King, Jr.
Anyone who has studied Latin at the high school or college level is well-acquainted with the structure of a Ciceronian sentence. Cicero often employed what we call a periodic sentence. In this structure, the main verb appears at or near the end, no matter how lengthy the sentence, and his sentences were frequently very long. The subject, on the other hand, typically starts the sentence, with the intervening words forming dependent clauses that modify either the subject or the main verb, or even modify other modifiers. This can result in sentences that seem to go on endlessly. When translating Cicero into English, especially, it is often impossible to maintain the placement of the main verb at the end, as the rhythm of the language demands an adjustment, causing the subject to occasionally be lost.
Today, anyone pursuing a college degree in rhetoric, regardless of language, will certainly encounter Cicero’s sentences in their studies. Political science majors, and especially lawyers, are trained to compose sentences in this style. Admittedly, this training is not as rigorous as it once was, as evidenced by the contrast between the eloquent speeches of Abraham Lincoln and the more simplistic speeches of George W. Bush. If you ever wish for a speaker to sound more intelligent, remember the name of Cicero, for he is unmatched in this regard.
Cicero mastered the rhetorical techniques of his time, which were rooted in Ancient Greek traditions, particularly Thucydides's depiction of Pericles’ Funeral Oration. It remains unclear whether Pericles truly delivered the speech in the form recorded by Thucydides, or whether Thucydides adapted it to his own style. This speech, written in intricate Greek, is highly regarded by rhetoric students, as Cicero demonstrated in his famous Catilinarian Orations. These speeches, delivered in the Roman Senate, aimed to denounce and disgrace Lucius Catilina, a corrupt senator who sought to overthrow the Roman Republic. Cicero’s rhetorical skill enabled him to drive Catilina from power, ultimately leading to Catilina’s death during a rebellion. Cicero achieved this solely through his mastery of prose.
Here’s an excerpt from Cicero's First Catilinarian Oration:
“How much longer, O Catiline, will you test our patience? How long will your madness continue to mock us? When will your unrestrained audacity cease, as you parade about as you do now? Do the night watch on Palatine Hill, the city-wide guards, the people’s alarm, the alliance of all good men, or the precaution of gathering the Senate in this defensible location—do the expressions on the faces of this venerable assembly—do any of these things have no effect on you? Do you not realize that your plans have been uncovered? Do you not understand that your conspiracy has been neutralized by the very awareness of those present here? What were your actions last night, the night before—where were you—who did you summon—what plots did you put forward, assuming that any of us are unaware?”
Further Reading: Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome’s Greatest Politician
6. Geometry Archimedes
Runners-up: Euclid, Rene Descartes.
Archimedes is often ranked among the top four mathematicians in history, but it was his practical use of geometry that cemented his legacy. One of his key inventions, the Archimedes Screw, is still a highly effective tool for moving water from a low elevation to a higher one. It works by using an inclined plane inside a tube. One end of the tube is submerged in water, and the tube is angled against a surface. As the tube is rotated, the water rises along the incline and flows out at the other end. Archimedes famously told the King of Syracuse, “Give me a screw long enough and I will empty the ocean.”
The King of Syracuse, ruling from the fortified city on the coast of Sicily, hired Archimedes to develop defenses against sieges. Among his contributions was a massive ballista capable of launching 1,000 arrows simultaneously through narrow slits in the city walls, effectively devastating entire regiments. Archimedes also designed increasingly powerful catapults for hurling larger stones over greater distances. His most renowned inventions, all grounded in geometry, include the Claw and the “Heat Ray.” The Claw was a device intended to swing out from the city walls and impale attacking ships, hoisting them with a giant lever to capsize or sink them within moments. Archimedes proclaimed, “Give me a lever long enough and I will move the earth.”
The Heat Ray was a tactic involving a line of soldiers equipped with highly polished shields, angled to reflect sunlight onto an enemy ship in the harbor. While a single shield’s reflection was insufficient to ignite the wood of the ship, the combined effect of 100 shields focused the sunlight a hundredfold, creating enough heat to cause the ships to reach their combustion point, causing them to burst into flames as they floated.
He became an expert in the geometric mechanics behind simple machines. Using a system of around 50 pulleys, ranging in size from the size of a hand to the size of an SUV tire, he attached one end of the rope to a massive ship belonging to the king and wrapped the other end around himself. By pulling the rope, he was able to move the entire ship from the harbor onto the shore all on his own, thanks to the mechanical advantage provided by the pulleys which reduced the weight he needed to move.
One night, while taking a bath, he noticed the water overflow and realized that the amount of displaced water was equivalent to his own weight. Overcome with excitement, he ran naked through the streets shouting “Eureka! Eureka!” meaning “I have found it! I have found it!” This revelation led him to the discovery of how to measure the volume and density of irregular objects, such as the king’s crown, by submerging them in water and measuring the displaced water.
The tale of his death is said to involve him being so absorbed in his geometric drawings that, during the Roman siege of Syracuse, a soldier ordered him to stop. Holding an armful of his devices and appearing like a looter, Archimedes ignored the command and was tragically stabbed by the soldier. His last words, according to the story, were, “Don’t disturb my diagrams.” He had been sketching his designs in the dirt. The Roman general, Marcellus, had ordered that Archimedes be spared because of his admiration for the mathematician, lamenting, “I have 10,000 men. They have Archimedes.”
Further Reading: Archimedes and the Door of Science
5. Modern Physics Albert Einstein
Runners-up: Christiaan Huyghens, #2 on this list, Max Planck, Niels Bohr.
Einstein is synonymous with genius. Along with Archimedes, he ranks among the four greatest mathematicians in history. His work reshaped physics across various fields, from nuclear physics to quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, and, of course, relativity. He revealed that, when considering the vastness of the Universe, time itself behaves strangely. He proposed that time and space are interwoven, functioning as a single fabric that bends and warps similarly to how a stretched cloth reacts to pressure. The greater the mass, the more profound the distortion. This theory is also true for gravity and the void of space. Time slows down in the presence of any gravitational field, although the effect is usually insignificant. However, when dealing with black holes, time itself ceases entirely.
At the time, Einstein’s ideas seemed outlandish to many of his peers. Not only was he challenging 300 years of established physics, but he was also making bold predictions based solely on his equations. One of these predictions was that light would bend when passing through a gravitational field. The scientific community was eager to test this hypothesis, and in 1919, a solar eclipse offered the perfect opportunity. As predicted, the light from a distant star bent as it passed around the sun’s edge, providing one of the rare instances where physics predicted an observable event, and the prediction turned out to be correct.
Einstein explored every aspect of physics, including the Unified Field Theory, an ambitious concept that aimed to explain the interaction of the four fundamental forces of the Universe, especially at the moment of the Big Bang, and even before time itself began. While scientists have yet to crack the theory, Einstein’s work has brought us closer to the solution than anyone before him.
Further Reading: Einstein: His Life and Universe
4. Literature William Shakespeare
Runners-up: Homer, Dante Alighieri, Cervantes
Very few individuals can claim to have achieved mastery across the entire world in one field. Literature itself is not a single discipline but rather a collection of various genres—poetry, prose, fiction, non-fiction—each with its own set of experts, and those specializations rarely overlap. Shakespeare, however, is almost universally recognized as the unparalleled master of drama, dramatic poetry, sonnets, fiction, and dramatic non-fiction. His works have been translated into more languages than any other author in history (unless one includes God as an author). Everyone is eager to witness his genius in action, to understand how he achieves such greatness. What is it about Shakespeare that makes him so extraordinary?
His works carry a pervasive sense of cynicism. He constantly explores human flaws, presenting a view of humanity as fundamentally pathetic. There are no perfect heroes in his plays, because in his eyes, such figures do not exist in real life. Villains abound in his stories. His tragedies always culminate in the deaths of most, if not all, of the key characters, typically at the hands of one another. These plays unravel from within, with characters destroyed by their own weaknesses. His comedies are not far off, though, as they too feature turmoil; yet in the end, most characters marry. Some have even described his comedies as the earliest form of modern sitcoms, where characters exchange playful barbs and insults.
No matter how intricately you craft the plot in your own short story or novel, no matter how bizarre or distinctive you make your characters, Shakespeare already did it. While he might not have been the first to explore these themes, he revolutionized drama more than any other writer. Not to mention the philosophical depth of his sonnets, which, in addition to their content, represent the pinnacle of closed-form poetry in the English language. His works are quoted, performed, and parodied more than any other author’s, an extraordinary feat considering they are over 450 years old. His two most profound tragedies, Hamlet and King Lear, are not merely plays but also detailed psychological studies of characters grappling with mental and emotional torment, exploring how they cope with such distress.
Further Reading: Shakespeare: The Biography
3. Music Johann Sebastian Bach
Runners-up: Palestrina, Renaissance Music; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Classical music; Ludwig van Beethoven, Romantic music.
This individual also compiled a list solely dedicated to composers, where Bach claimed the top spot. However, this list does not rank the ten fields by importance. They are independent and unranked in that regard.
Bach stands as one of only two individuals to have perfected an entire system of liberal arts. His system was Baroque music, a genre that began well before his birth. By the time he reached his peak creative phase, Baroque music was beginning to fall out of favor, as many of his contemporaries felt it had been fully explored.
Bach disproved their assumptions, even if they were reluctant to acknowledge it. History has affirmed him as the master of the Baroque musical style. While he didn't invent new musical forms, unlike Franz Joseph Haydn, who essentially created the modern symphony, Bach produced masterpieces across every major form of his era: fugue, sonata, cantata, concerto grosso, mass, sinfonia (the precursor to the symphony), and more.
He was the first to develop a system for tuning any keyboard instrument, particularly the harpsichord and its variations. His Well-Tempered Clavier consists of two books, each containing 24 preludes and fugues, covering all the major and minor scales. These pieces were designed to be played before a performance to tune the keyboard. Through music, the ear can recognize harmonics, providing a sense of each tone’s context. Without this system, a performer might tighten a string until it snaps.
No one before or after Bach has been able to compose contrapuntal music (two or more melodies harmonizing with each other) so consistently, so grandly, with such complexity, richness, and technical mastery. He could improvise fugues for up to two hours on the organ, often transcribing them from memory afterward.
He grasped contrapuntal music as deeply and naturally as Newton grasped mathematics or Aristotle grasped logic.
Further Reading: Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician
2. Mathematics Sir Isaac Newton
Runners-up: #6 on this list, Carl Friedrich Gauss, #5 on this list.
If humanity ever reaches another planet with a species of similar or greater intelligence, we will do so not in the name of God or peace, but in the name of Isaac Newton. He discovered and systematized classical mechanics, a framework that guided nearly all scientific progress for the next three centuries, until Einstein updated his theories. He also invented the reflecting telescope, which uses mirrors instead of lenses. Additionally, he came up with a modern concept of a car—excluding the engine. At the age of 13, he designed a wooden chassis with four wheels on two axles, all connected to a steering shaft. The steering wheel was a solid wooden disk that controlled all four wheels, allowing the vehicle to move sideways as well as forward and backward. The car was powered by a strong spring that unwound over an hour, enabling him to drive from his mother’s country home into the nearby villages of Woolsthorpe and Colsterworth. It could travel at about 10 mph.
Newton's contributions to physics, mathematics, science, and even theology are staggering. Mathematicians today call him 'Superman.' Between 1665 and 1666, he posed the question that haunted every scientist of the time: 'What is keeping the moon in the sky? Why isn't it falling to Earth?' He used all the mathematics available to him to tackle this problem, discovering the generalized binomial theorem along the way. But soon, the math no longer fit the material he was dealing with. So, he essentially invented differential and integral calculus to continue his work. Ultimately, he succeeded, formulating the law of universal gravitation and the three laws of motion, now known as Newton’s Laws. All of this was accomplished by the age of 23. Modern mathematicians still regard this achievement as superhuman.
First Law: An object in motion remains in motion, unless acted upon by an external force. Second Law: A body will accelerate proportionally to the force applied and inversely proportional to its mass. Third Law: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
These three laws laid the foundation for physics until Einstein’s theories of relativity, which offer more precise examinations at microscopic levels. Newton also proposed a theory of colors, claiming that objects do not inherently possess color, but are instead influenced by the colors within light, which can be separated and recombined using a prism. This concept also led to the invention of the reflecting telescope. Around the same time, Gottfried Leibniz independently discovered differential and integral calculus, giving it its name, while Newton referred to it as 'the method of fluxions and fluents.' It can be said that Leibniz discovered infinitesimal calculus for curiosity’s sake, but Newton invented it specifically to solve a problem he was working on.
Newton made profound advancements in every branch of mathematics that is still relevant today.
Further Reading: Isaac Newton
1. Philosophy Aristotle
Runners-up: Socrates, Plato
Even after the contributions of monumental thinkers like Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Nietzsche, Hume, Descartes, and others, modern philosophy still heavily relies on the foundations laid by Aristotle. He was a student of Plato, who in turn learned from Socrates—three towering figures of ancient thought. Aristotle's unique legacy lies in his development of theories spanning everything from biology to ethics, logic, politics, poetry, and physics. He was the first to distinguish aquatic mammals, such as whales and dolphins, from fish. He also made the groundbreaking discovery of the hectocotyl arm in cephalopods, including octopuses, squids, and certain shelled species. This specialized arm, which serves as both a tentacle and a reproductive organ, was not rediscovered until the 1800s, when biologists were astonished to find that Aristotle's description of it was accurate.
Aristotle is often credited with essentially founding the scientific method, a process that has remained largely unchanged for over 2,300 years.
As the first to systematize logic into a formal discipline, Aristotle’s work laid the foundation for all deductive reasoning. If you've ever made a deduction, consciously or not, you've used a method that Aristotle first formalized. In ethics, he proposed that the ultimate human goal was to achieve happiness, arguing that fulfilling this purpose was in line with nature's intent in creating us. He further asserted that the highest form of happiness comes from learning, since it is the activity most natural to humans. By engaging in learning, humans naturally achieve their fullest potential, becoming wise and good.
Regarding politics, Aristotle believed that the primary aim of any political system should be to ensure the well-being of its citizens. He identified three main forms of government: a constitutional government, an aristocracy, and a monarchy or empire. However, he argued that, due to human nature, these systems would eventually degrade into democracy, oligarchy, and tyranny, respectively. Thus, he concluded that a constitutional government was the best option, and that every political state should strive for it. Modern democracies remain strikingly similar to Aristotle's vision of governance.
Further Reading: Aristotle for Everybody
+ Theology St Thomas Aquinas
Runners-up: St Augustine, St Albert Magnus (St Thomas’ teacher)
Theology is the study of God through divine revelation, in contrast to metaphysics, which seeks to understand God through natural reason. St Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican priest in the 13th century, was affectionately dubbed “The Dumb Ox.” However, his career as a teacher proved otherwise. He became widely recognized for his brilliant intellect. St Thomas was the first to successfully integrate faith and reason, using Aristotle as his foundation. Unlike the Muslim philosopher Averroes, who proposed a dual truth—one for faith and another for philosophy—St Thomas harmonized the two without contradiction.
St Thomas Aquinas' most renowned theological work is the *Summa Theologica*, a comprehensive five-volume series of questions and answers addressing all aspects of faith. Deeply rooted in Aristotelian principles and formal logic, the *Summa* is an exhaustive exploration of theological matters. Some of the issues it explores include the nature of animal souls, the process of the bodily resurrection, and questions related to justice, such as whether lying constitutes a sin.
The influence St Thomas exerted on the world far surpassed that of any theologian who came before him. He earned the title “Angelic Doctor,” a stark contrast to the label “dumb ox” he once received. His writings became almost sacred, with virtually every Pope after his time decreeing that St Thomas’ works form the core curriculum for seminarians. This tradition continues to this day in Catholic seminaries worldwide, in adherence to the teachings of Rome.
Further Reading: Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Dumb Ox
