Geologic Significance?

Back in 2004 I ran across a piece of fitted canvas. So I considered a mural, based on a quote from my high school’s graduation speech. My adviser who was also my bio and geology teacher, had asked us what our mark would be in geologic time. When I began sketching on the canvas I was a freshman in college, in my first semester. So I made up a list of great people, did a few layers of strata on the top of the canvas, then a multitude of recognizable faces, and more strata on the bottom. In the middle, at the base, was the quote, asking what will be your role in geologic time.

After sketching in all the faces and strata the canvas disappeared. And just in time, too. That second semester was much more difficult, with me struggling to maintain my GPA. I’ll occasionally wonder what happened to it. Recently I decided to re-sketch the idea, having long since lost or thrown out the original sketches. The main cartoon looks like this:

  Just, so bored this weekend.

Here’s an example of it up-close:

Longtime readers will recognize the comic format.

One major difference between now and 2004 is that I’ve a much better understanding of world history. Also I decided quite consciously to split in 50/50 women and men, since that reflects humanity. Also there are more non-whites. Teaching world history I’ve a more well-rounded view of humanity.

In case anyone’s curious, here are the 60 men and 60 women I picked. They are not who I think are best, or most honorable, or even most impacting. It’s just supposed to be a representative sample. There is a bias, however, towards the generally inspirational and uplifting, with a few tragedies thrown in. (But no Hitlers, Maos, or Pol Pots.) I highly recommend looking them up, and learning about their various fascinating lives and accomplishments. I’ve given ‘nationalities’ based on current geography (i.e. ‘Turkish’ rather than ‘Ottoman’). And who knows? Maybe I’ll still paint that mural someday.

1.      Adam Smith. Scottish economist, d. 1790

2.      Ada Lovelace. English mathematician, d. 1852

3.      Toussaint Louverture. Haitian revolutionary, d. 1803

4.      Queen Nzinga. Angolan monarch, d. 1663

5.      Thomas Jefferson. American president, d. 1826

6.      Sei Shonagon. Japanese author, d. 1017

7.      Jorge Luis Borges. Argentinian author, d. 1986

8.      Rachel Carson. American biologist, d. 1964

9.      Kwame Nkrumah. Ghanaian politician, d. 1972

10.  Elizabeth Blackwell. English/American physician, d. 1910

11.  Rumi. Iranian poet, d. 1273

12.  Ban Zhao. Chinese author, d. 116

13.  Suleiman I. Turkish monarch, d. 1566

14.  Lise Meitner. Austrian/Swedish physicist, d. 1968

15.  Porfirio Diaz. Mexican revolutionary, d. 1915

16.  Julia Morgan. American architect, d. 1957

17.  Moses Maimonides. Spanish philosopher, d. 1204

18.  Meerabai. Indian mystic poet, d. 1547

19.  Ernest Shackleton. English/Irish explorer, d. 1922

20.  Roma Mitchell. Australian jurist, d. 2000

21.  Mongkut. Thai monarch, d. 1868

22.  Maria Montessori. Italian educator, d. 1952

23.  Hone Heke. New Zealand Maori revolutionary, d. 1850

24.  Fatima Al-Fihri. Tunisian/Moroccan educator, d. 880

25.  Ahmes. Egyptian scribe, d. c. 1650 BCE

26.  Emma Goldman. Lithuanian activist, d. 1940

27.  Theodore Herzl. Hungarian journalist, d. 1904

28.  Hildegard. German polymath, d. 1179

29.  Sultan Agung. Indonesian monarch, d. 1646

30.  Tarquina Molza. Italian polymath, d. 1617

31.  Chuang Tzu. Chinese philosopher, d. 286

32.  Enheduanna. Iraqi author, d. 2250BCE

33.  Carlos de Siguenza y Gongora. Mexican polymath, d. 1700

34.  Gabriela Mistral. Chilean poet, d. 1957

35.  Tecumseh. American Shawnee revolutionary, d. 1813

36.  Marie Antoinette. French monarch, d. 1793

37.  Sun Yat-sen. Chinese revolutionary, d. 1925

38.  Mary Kingsley. English explorer, d. 1900

39.  Ludwig van Beethoven. German composer, d. 1827

40.  Juana Ines de la Cruz. Mexican poet, d. 1695

41.  Raphael. Italian painter, d. 1520

42.  Christine de Pizan. Italian/French author, d. 1434

43.  Ibn Battuta. Morrocan explorer, d. 1377

44.  Jane Addams. American reformer, d. 1935

45.  Luo Guanzhong. Chinese author, d. 1400

46.  Emmeline Pankhurst, British activist, d. 1928

47.  Siddhartha Gautama. Indian prophet, d. 483 BCE

48.  Maria Agnesi. Italian mathematician, d. 1799

49.  Menelik II. Ethiopian monarch, d. 1913

50.  Anna Komnene. Turkish/Greek polymath, d. 1153

51.  Claudius Ptolemy. Greek/Egyptian astronomer, d. 168

52.  Diane Fossey. American anthropologist, d. 1985

53.  Sigmund Freud. Austrian psychologist, d. 1939

54.  Tomoe Gozen. Japanese warrior, d. 1247

55.  Cicero. Italian statesman, d. 43 BCE

56.  Sacajawea. American Shoshone explorer, d. 1812

57.  Jesus of Nazareth. Palestinian prophet, d. 33

58.  Helena Rubinstein. Polish/American tycoon, d. 1965

59.  Omar Khayyam. Iranian polymath, d. 1131

60.  Cleopatra. Egyptian monarch, d. 30 BCE

61.  Thomas More. English statesman, d. 1535

62.  Liliuokalani. Hawaiian monarch, d. 1917

63.  Alan Turing. English mathematician, d. 1954

64.  Hypatia. Greek/Egyptian polymath, d. 415

65.  Groucho Marx. American entertainer, d. 1977

66.  Hedy Lamarr. Austrian/American entertainer, d. 2000

67.  Karl Marx. German philosopher, d. 1883

68.  Catherine II. Russian monarch, d. 1796

69.  Brahmagupta. Indian mathematician, d. 668

70.  Clara Driscoll. American designer, d. 1944

71.  John Maynard Keynes. English economist, d. 1946

72.  Indira Gandhi. Indian politician, d. 1984

73.  Imhotep. Egyptian polymath, d. c. 2600 BCE

74.  Ida Tarbell. American journalist, d. 1944

75.  Confucius. Chinese scholar, d. 479 BCE

76.  Hester Stanhope. English archaeologist, d. 1839

77.  Andrei Sakharov. Russian activist, d. 1989

78.  Mary Cassatt. American painter, d. 1926

79.  Kautilya. Indian statesman, d. 283 BCE

80.  Wangari Maathai. Kenyan environmentalist, d. 2011

81.  Harvey Milk. American activist, d. 1978

82.  Mary Wollstonecraft. English author, d. 1797

83.  Basawan. Indian painter, d. c. 1600

84.  Ci Xi. Chinese Empress, d. 1908

85.  Hans Christian Oersted. Danish scientist, d. 1851

86.  Ella Fitzgerald. American entertainer, d. 1996

87.  Babur. Uzbek/Indian monarch, d. 1530

88.  Rosa Parks. American activist, d. 2005

89.  Che Guevara. Argentinian revolutionary, d. 1967

90.  George Eliot. English author, d. 1880

91.  Bartolome de las Casas. Spanish historian, d. 1566

92.  Annie Oakley. American entertainer, d. 1926

93.  Zumbi. Brazilian monarch, d. 1695

94.  Georgia O’Keefe. American painter, d. 1986

95.  Al-Zahrawi. Spanish physician, d. 1013

96.  Martha Graham. American dancer, d. 1991

97.  Moliere. French dramatist, d. 1673

98.  Eva Peron. Argentinian politician, d. 1952

99.  Jim Thorpe. American athelete, d. 1953

100.                      Elizabeth I. English monarch, d. 1603

101.                      Takenouchi Hisamori. Japanese athlete, d. c. 1550?

102.                      Sappho. Greek poet, d. c. 570 BCE

103.                      Zhang Heng. Chinese polymath, d. 139

104.                      Margaret Sanger, American activist, d. 1966

105.                      Socrates. Greek philosopher, d. 399 BCE

106.                      Hannah Arendt. German/American academic, d. 1975

107.                      Muhammad (represented by calligraphy). Saudi Arabian prophet, d. 632

108.                      Joan of Arc. French soldier, d. 1431

109.                      Michael Severtus. Spanish polymath, d. 1553

110.                      Marie Currie. Polish scientist, d. 1934

111.                      Ralph Waldo Emerson. American philosopher, d. 1882

112.                      Virginia Woolf. English author, d. 1941

113.                      Alfred Russel Wallace. English biologist, d. 1913

114.                      Anna Politkovskaya. Russian journalist, d. 2006

115.                      Wole Soyinka. Nigerian author, b. 1934 –

116.                      Helen Gurley Brown. American author, d. 2012

117.                      Pierre Goudiaby Atepa. Senegalese architect, b. 1947 –

118.                      Tu Youyou. Chinese physician, b. 1930 –

119.                      Pele. Brazilian soccer player, b. 1940 –

120.                      Valentina Tereshkova. Russian astronaut, b. 1937 –