IUBio

Time Magazine: Man of the Millennium

Joe Cosby joecosby at huckug.seatac.net
Mon Sep 28 21:59:07 EST 1998


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On Mon, 28 Sep 1998 08:44:58 GMT, Beast of Bourbon wrote about Re: Time Magazine: Man of the Millennium:
> On 27 Sep 1998 10:33:26 GMT, joecosby at mixqam.seatac.net (Joe Cosby) wrote:
> 
> >> Gold: da Vinci
> >> 
> >Maybe my history is weak, I don't really know all that
> >much about the life of da Vinci.
> >
> >But did he really have any -effect- on the world around
> >him?
> >
> >He has always seemed to be a fascinating genius, and to
> >embody the knowledge of his time, but did anything he
> >did ever lead to other things in turn?
> >
> >He strikes me as a synthecist;  making fascinating
> >-applications- of knowledge as it existed in his time,
> >but he doesn't seem to have really advanced anything
> >-novel-, at least not in any influential way.
> 
> Then you're limiting the scope of the "award" to one's influence on
> technological advancement.  I'm being a bit more free in my considerations.
>

Well, influence in general anyway.  I guess it starts to beg the question,
what exactly do we mean by "Person of the Millenium"?  (Note politically
correct revision so as not to be burned at the stake)

I think in terms of influence, effect, but it could be taken a lot of ways.

> Leonardo da Vinci is the supreme example of the creative potential of a human
> being.  His was "the most compulsive curiosity ever recorded," in the words of
> Kenneth MacLeish.
> 
> He displayed mastery, or did extensive studies, of many fields and trades:
> Aeronautics
> Anatomy
> Architecture
> Astronomy
> Botany
> Cartography
> Drawing
> Geology
> Geometry
> Hydraulics
> Mathematics
> Mechanics
> Metal Casting
> Military Engineering
> Murals
> Optics
> Painting

But was he good at 'Quake'?  That is the ultimate test of accomplishment...

> Sculpture
> Zoology
> 

Since I originally posted that I've been reading more about LDV, and I
may have been wrong-headed about him.  He may have had more of an
impact than I realized.

But still, it begs the question:  by "Man of the Millenium", do we
mean the most accomplished person, or the person who accomplished
the most?

Since we're talking about Time magazine, I suppose the actual criteria
will probably turn out to be a muddle of the two.
--
----------------------------------------------------
Joe Cosby

Devout member of the Church of Amiga since 1990

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it" - Goethe
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