Time magazine's person of the century
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Time Person of the Century was created to honor one of the Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century. On December 31, 1999, the magazine published a special edition of its magazine naming Albert Einstein as "Person of the Century". Because the editors of TIME believed the twentieth century would be remembered most for its advances in science and technology, they thought Einstein would serve as a symbol for the scientists Werner Heisenberg, Niels Bohr, Richard Feynman, and Stephen Hawking and the others who have built upon his work.[1]
The cover of the magazine featured the 1947 image of Einstein taken by American portrait photographer Philippe Halsman. It was during this photo session that Einstein spoke to Halsman of his despair over how his special theory of relativity and letter to Roosevelt led to the creation of the atomic bomb. It was at this point of immense sadness for Einstein that Halsman took the picture.[2]
The runners-up for Person of the Century were Franklin D. Roosevelt and Mahatma Gandhi.[3]
It was debated whether Adolf Hitler, German Chancellor and Fuhrer responsible for World War II and the Holocaust should have been made Person of the Century for his impact on the 20th Century. The argument was based on Time's criteria that the person chosen should have the greatest impact on this century, for better or worse. However, it was decided that the selected should have a positive rather than negative influence.[4]
[edit] See also
- Time Person of the Year
- The Time 100. Time magazine's list of currently influential people, published annually beginning in 2004, following the success of 1999's "20th century" list.
[edit] References
- ^ Editors (Spring 2000). "Einstein as Person of the Century (or Not?)". Center for History of Physics Newsletter (American Institute of Physics) 32 (1). http://www.aip.org/history/newsletter/spring2000/einstein.htm. Retrieved on 2008-03-01.
- ^ "Contributors". Time. 31 December 1999. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993008,00.html?iid=chix-sphere. Retrieved on 2008-03-01.
- ^ "Person of the Century". Time. 3 January 2000. http://www.time.com/time/time100/poc/home.html. Retrieved on 2008-03-01.
- ^ http://www.time.com/time/time100/poc/magazine/the_necessary_evil19a.html
