Eminence revisited.

Abstract

J.M. Cattell's 1903 study of the 1,000 most eminent people of history was repeated using current sources. Of Cattell's names, 476 recur, and on average these names have higher ranks than those appearing in only Cattell's list or the new one. Similarities between the 2 lists include the following: highest frequency of names for the century preceding that of the study; dominance of British and French names; and highest frequency of military / government people, with literature 2nd. However, the new list has less scholarship and more art/architecture and music. The new list yields a negative exponential function between the space a person receives in biographical sources and his or her eminence rank.

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