ملاحظات نقدية .. كتاب المائة الأوائل

Critical notes

Now that we have briefly presented the lives of the first hundred, we have no shame in saying that it is very easy to criticize a work while it is very difficult to create this work. In our criticism of Dr. Michael Hart's book, we must discuss some important points, commenting on the ideas he presented, with our appreciation for the work of the great author and our appreciation for his effort. This book came as a result of his readings, his broad culture, and his general environment, in addition to his feelings. Whether private, religious, ethnic or national.

Despite this, we have noticed that the author was keen on being as impartial as possible, and he was strict in setting the standards according to which he extracted the first hundred, but he could not be completely impartial when arranging the hundred personalities.

The author is American by Western education, culture, common sense and opinion. He is committed within a general framework that distinguishes the West, that framework that considers America (from a cultural point of view) part of the Anglo-Saxon world in particular and Western Europe in general, that view that considers the world superior to others with its distinguished ancient culture with roots that go back exclusively to the Greek classical era, considering that science Modern knowledge dates back to the Renaissance, which is considered a resurrection of the Greek classical era. And when we make some critical remarks, we aim to show the abstract facts regarding this book.

Firstly :

It appears through what the author wrote and his comments about the first hundred that he. One of the followers of the Pragmatism philosophy, and this is an American intellectual movement founded by Pierce and William James, and one of its distinctive teachings is that the meanings of concepts must be searched for in their practical applications, and that the function and work of thought is guidance for action, and that the validity of any idea or fact must be judged by its results in the future.

Thus, the reader noticed that the author was always presenting the idea of ​​the practical result of any one of the hundred members that he chose, and that it is the first factor in qualifying him for that position, and he preferred one person over another just because of some superior practical results for one person that the other neglected.

Even in his introduction, the author stated this fact frankly and repeatedly, as he says that he neglected the mythical persons such as Ho Miros, Aesop, and Latzo, because their actions had no practical result, which delayed their ranking within the hundred.

And he said when speaking about the Lord Christ that some of his thoughts are like: Do not resist evil, and whoever hits you on your right cheek, turn to him the left. These ideas are idealistic and impractical. We do not practice it and we do not expect anyone to practice it. Even if all people followed it, we would not hesitate to put Jesus Christ in the first place. All these evidences indicate the extent of the author’s adherence (pragmatism) and his interest in the results when judging people more than his interest in the people themselves.

secondly :

As for women, the author says that women have been neglected throughout history, and that he mentioned only two women among the first hundred. This shows the extent to which the author is affected by the status quo STATISQUO and his inability to avoid the attraction of that abominable situation. The neglect of women throughout history simply because they are a sensitive and weak human being, which has proven through the ages that they are equal to men, if not superior to them, in many mental, cultural, social and scientific fields. The author casually mentioned Madame Curie when he talked about Henri Becquerel and radiation, but there are several famous women who were overlooked by the author. History from ancient times until now is full of the names of women who had an impact on the course of human civilization, such as Semiramis, Queen of Assyria, Hatshepsut, Queen of Egypt, Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, and Florence Nightingale, who saved thousands of wounded in the Crimean War. She was the pioneer of nurses in the world, the likes of Telechkova, who orbited the earth in a spaceship, and the fighters for the eradication of workers' grievances, such as Nadezhda Kro Pescaia, Clare Azneken and Soahne.

Third :

Although the author mentioned over and over again that civilization is not the property of one person or one nation. However, when reclassifying it statistically, he confirmed with his final comments that most of the geniuses and scientists in the world are of British origin. There are 18 personalities from Great Britain, and he points out that five of them came from Scotland, and they are at the forefront of the first hundred. Thus, he concludes that there is an amazing concentration of talents in Scotland. That Scotland is the mother of civilization? Isn't this a contradiction that civilization does not belong to one person or to one nation, but rather it is a mixture of thought juices and small streams that flow from all parts of the world and flow into a large stream that is the forthcoming course of human civilization! .

Fourthly :

It is noted that the author, when choosing the first hundred, was somewhat influenced by his personal culture, as he is specialized in science, astronomy and law. So we see that most of his characters are selected. these fields. In particular, the field of physics, there are fifteen personalities that took the twentieth century, including ten scientific personalities, and the rest are political. Of these scientific personalities, we find nine who became famous for their research in physics, and we are seeking the author's attention, and they won the Nobel Prize. Of the ten personalities mentioned above, nine of them were awarded the Nobel Prize in physics and the tenth in medical sciences. Note that the Nobel Prizes began to be presented at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Fifth:

On the other hand, we see that the author begins to search for the personalities nominated for the hundred starting from the sixth century BC. Neglecting the role of the civilizations of Mesopotamia, Syria and Egypt, and no one deserves to be mentioned in the era prior to the sixth century BC. AD Although the cradle of civilization and science dates back to that era, did the author forget Hammurabi, the first legislator in history? And others who influenced history and ancient civilization?

The author considers the period between the second century BC and the dark fourteenth century AD to be a period of civilizational stagnation in the world, and the truth is that this period was not a period of stagnation except in Europe, which was suffering under the eras that followed the collapse of the Roman Empire in the fifth century AD. The author has forgotten the Arab civilization that flourished in the Arab and Islamic world. And in Andalusia, where many Arab scholars appeared who had the greatest impact on global civilization and from whom Europe took a lot when the European countries began their renaissance, such as Al-Khwarizmi, Al-Farabi, Abu Bakr Al-Razi, Ibn Sina, Al-Hassan, Ibn Al-Haytham, Ibn Rushd, Ibn Khaldun and others. In confirmation of this, we see that the author chooses 16 personalities from this era, four of whom are religious personalities, and the rest are political and military personalities, and he did not mention any scientific personality.

Sixthly :

In addition to the noted bias of the author towards strangers in general and the Anglo-Saxon world in particular, and the influence of Western culture, we see that he neglected Russian scholars and artists and Slavic culture in general. In the field of art and music, Beethoven of Dutch origin and German Bach were mentioned, and Tchaikovsky did not mention Ormsi-Korsakov, although the latter two are no less than the first in their ability, production, and influence on the world. As for science, the Russian scientist ignored Mendeleev, the owner of the periodic classification table of the elements, which is still the basis for the chemical classification of the elements, and through which many elements that were unknown were discovered. Likewise, the physiologist Pavlov ignored the discoverer of the conditioned reflex, the mechanics of nerves, and the nervous system, by the admission of American scientists themselves.

Seventh:

As a Westerner, you also feel the author's hatred of the Arab-Islamic civilization, as he presents Pope Urban II, the instigator of the Crusades. He refers to Charles Martel, who stopped the Arab advance in Europe, and introduces Isabella, who destroyed the Arabs in Spain, and Genghis Khan, who. Abbasid Arab civilization. In this regard is his blatant prejudice against the Arab countries and the Arab nation. When he mentioned (Francis Pizarro), who overthrew the (Inca) empire in Peru, which had a population of six million and an army of more than forty thousand, with an army of only two hundred men. He likens this situation to the state of the war between the Arabs and Israel in 1967. (We have delayed the discussion of this observation and preferred to postpone the answer to this subject until the end of the presentation of the first hundred) because we are keen to keep the research of the first hundred pure and consistent with the purpose for which it was set, which is the definition of the first hundred who had the highest mug in the crystallization and advancement of human civilization. The author has forgotten that Israel is nothing but the outpost of modern colonialism greedy in the Middle East with its oil, raw materials, resources and water, so Israel has become like a whip and an executioner.

Israel in the Middle East is Nicaragua Simosa, and it is Iran, the racist Ian Smith regime in South Africa. All these regimes were outposts and whips for modern colonialism, but they almost collapsed under the hammers of weak and powerful peoples. Which

But let's go back and say that whoever chose Muhammad (may God bless him and grant him peace) to be the first of the top 100 (and rightfully so) deserves to have some tolerance, given that this is a setback and every horse has a setback. And the author is a victim of the tyrannical Zionist propaganda in America.

Eighth:

There are some historical mistakes made by the author. He says, for example, when Charlemagne mentions that he is the founder of the Holy Roman Empire. In fact, this ace was only called the state that was ruled by Frederick I (1152-1190), although historians consider Charlemagne the founder of this empire, but it was not called (holy) except in the time of Frederick I. cm done.

Then the author mentions that Vascodagama had (picked up) an Indian guide who guided him on a path that lasted for twenty days across the Arabian Sea to India. Arabs who helped Vasco da Gama ingratitude and abuse.

These are some of our abstract observations about the book, and they were not meant to be exhaustive, but rather to give an idea of ​​the author's way of thinking in this regard.

And that this book represents the dawn of a new era of objective treatment of global civilization embodied in people, and this attempt is unprecedented in its arrangement and methodology.

in conclusion

And as a sequel to this research, we saw that we single out a special corner for the Arab and Russian scholars and thinkers who were mentioned in our notes, arranged according to the date of birth for each of them. As a tribute to their efforts and in recognition of the thanks of the Arab scholars for the modern civilization because they have transferred and preserved the ancient and Greek heritage in particular and presented it to the Westerners in addition to their own production so that it would be the water of life in the Renaissance and then the modern era, noting that the works of Arab scholars were considered the main sources of science in Europe until the era of near.