The Ultimate Gentleman: A Global Search

The title of the world's best man is subjective and depends on various factors and personal beliefs. Some people may consider religious figures such as Prophet Muhammad, Buddha, Jesus, or Paul of Tarsus as the world's best man. Others may favour scientists and inventors like Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, or Cai Lun, the inventor of paper. Social philosophers like Confucius have also made profound impacts on the world and could be considered for the title. Ultimately, the choice of the world's best man is a matter of individual opinion and is influenced by a person's values, culture, and personal experiences.

Prophet Muhammad: The Greatest Man of All Time

Prophet Muhammad is considered by many to be the greatest man of all time. He was a religious, political, and social figure who founded the Muslim faith and is regarded as God's ultimate prophet in all of Islam's major sects.

Michael Hart, the author of "The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History," ranked Prophet Muhammad as the greatest man in history. Hart pointed out that while many other great persons excelled in one sphere, Muhammad excelled in every sphere of life. He was a prophet, a husband, a father, a teacher, a leader, a judge, and a peacemaker.

Prophet Muhammad was known for his moral teachings, which emphasized peace, humanity, justice, and forgiveness. He forgave his enemies and showed patience when harmed by others. He also stressed the importance of knowledge, justice, and peace, guiding people away from ignorance, corruption, and violence.

Even his enemies spoke well of him, and despite acquiring great wealth, he gave it all away in charity to the poor and needy. Prophet Muhammad is an inspiration to 1.7 billion people worldwide and continues to be a source of guidance and virtue for Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

In conclusion, Prophet Muhammad's life and teachings embody the ideals of morality, peace, and monotheism. He excelled in all aspects of life and left a lasting legacy that continues to inspire and guide people all over the world, earning him the title of the Greatest Man of All Time.

Issac Newton: The physicist and mathematician

Isaac Newton: The physicist and mathematician

Isaac Newton, born on Christmas Day, 1642, was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian. He is regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of Western science and is often described as the central figure in the Scientific Revolution. Newton's work laid the foundation for modern physical optics and classical mechanics.

Newton's most well-known discovery is arguably his formulation of the three laws of motion, resulting in the law of universal gravitation. He is also credited with the discovery that white light is a mixture of immutable spectral colours and the invention of calculus.

Newton's early life was marked by trauma. He was born to a widowed mother, and his father died three months before his birth. As a premature baby, he was small and weak, and his mother did not expect him to survive. When Newton was three years old, his mother remarried and left him in the care of his grandmother. This separation from his mother lasted for nine years, and it is believed to have contributed to his pronounced psychotic tendencies.

Newton's education was interrupted during his early years, but he eventually attended The King's School in Grantham, where he studied Latin and Ancient Greek and gained a foundation in mathematics. In 1661, he was admitted to Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, where he immersed himself in the works of Aristotle, Descartes, Galileo Galilei, and Thomas Street. It was during his time at Cambridge that Newton began his scientific career, keeping his notes in a notebook entitled "Quaestiones Quaedam Philosophicae" ("Certain Philosophical Questions").

In 1665, Newton graduated from Cambridge with a bachelor's degree, and the university closed temporarily due to the Great Plague. During this time, Newton laid the foundations of calculus and developed his theories on optics and the law of gravitation. In 1667, he returned to Cambridge and was elected as a fellow of Trinity. He became a fellow of the Royal Society in 1672 and published his influential book "Opticks" in 1704.

Newton's most significant work, "Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica" ("Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy"), was published in 1687. This work presented his laws of motion and universal gravitation and is considered one of the most important works in the history of modern science.

In addition to his scientific pursuits, Newton dedicated much of his time to the study of alchemy and biblical chronology. He also served as a member of the Parliament of England and held administrative positions as Master of the Mint and President of the Royal Society.

Newton died in his sleep in London on March 20, 1727, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Despite his achievements, he is often remembered for his eccentricity and reclusiveness, never marrying and reportedly dying a virgin.

Jesus: The Christian religious leader

Jesus Christ, a 1st-century preacher and religious leader, is a central figure in Christianity, one of the world's major religions, with around 2.8 billion followers. He is regarded by most Christians as the Son of God and the Incarnation of God—the physical embodiment of God who came to teach, suffer, and die for people's sins.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in modern-day Palestine, and grew up in Nazareth, in Galilee. His mother, Mary, was a virgin, and his earthly father, Joseph, was a carpenter. Jesus himself also became a carpenter and worked in this trade until he began his ministry at around 30 years of age.

Jesus' ministry as a preacher and healer lasted less than a year and ended with his arrest, trial, and execution in Jerusalem. His disciples, however, became convinced that he rose from the dead and appeared to them, and they spread his teachings, which emphasized redemption, love, and forgiveness. This eventually led to the formation of a new religion, Christianity.

Jesus' life and teachings are recorded in the New Testament of the Bible, specifically in the four Canonical Gospels, written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These texts are not biographies in the modern sense but are written with allegorical intent, to engender faith in Jesus as the Messiah.

Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection are commemorated by Christians during the holidays of Good Friday and Easter, respectively, and his birth is celebrated on Christmas.

Confucius: The social philosopher

Confucius, born around 551 BCE, was a Chinese philosopher and thinker whose teachings and ideas changed the way people thought and lived throughout China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and Indonesia. He founded Confucianism, a system of thought and behaviour that is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life.

Confucius considered himself a transmitter of cultural values inherited from the Xia, Shang, and Western Zhou dynasties. His teachings, called Confucianism, emphasised personal and governmental morality, harmonious social relationships, righteousness, kindness, sincerity, and a ruler's responsibilities to lead by virtue. He advocated for filial piety, endorsing strong family loyalty, ancestor veneration, and the respect of elders by their children and of husbands by their wives. Confucius recommended a robust family unit as the cornerstone for an ideal government.

Confucius's teachings gained prominence during the Warring States period, but experienced setbacks following the Qin conquest. Under Emperor Wu of Han, Confucius's ideas received official sanction, with affiliated works becoming mandatory reading for career paths leading to officialdom. During the Tang and Song dynasties, Confucianism developed into a system known in the West as Neo-Confucianism, and later as New Confucianism.

Confucius is traditionally credited with having authored or edited many ancient texts, including all of the Five Classics. However, modern scholars exercise caution in attributing specific assertions to Confucius himself, as at least some of the texts and philosophy associated with him were of a more ancient origin. Aphorisms concerning his teachings were compiled in the Analects, but not until many years after his death.

Confucius's teachings were later turned into an elaborate set of rules and practices by his numerous disciples and followers, who organised his teachings into the Analects. Two of Confucius's most famous later followers emphasised different aspects of his teachings. Mencius articulated the innate goodness in human beings as a source of ethical intuitions, while Xunzi underscored the realistic and materialistic aspects of Confucian thought.

Confucius's works were first translated into European languages by Jesuit missionaries in the 16th century. Translations of Confucian texts influenced European thinkers of the period, particularly among the Deists and other philosophical groups of the Enlightenment who were interested in the integration of the system of morality of Confucius into Western civilisation.

Albert Einstein: The theoretical physicist

Albert Einstein is a world-renowned scientist and one of the most influential physicists of the 20th century. Born in Germany in 1879, Einstein is best known for his equation, E=mc^2, which demonstrates that energy and mass (matter) are interchangeable and underpins the development of the atomic bomb. He also discovered the photoelectric effect, for which he won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921.

Einstein's work on the special and general theories of relativity complicated and expanded upon theories of motion and gravity put forth by Isaac Newton over 200 years earlier. His theory of relativity completely shifted contemporary understanding of space.

Einstein's understanding of light as something that can function both as a wave and a stream of particles became the basis for what is known today as quantum mechanics. He also contributed to statistical mechanics, the theory of radiation, and statistical physics.

Einstein was raised in a secular Jewish family and had one sister, Maja. He married Milena Maric, a Serbian physics student, in 1903, and they had three children. After a period of unrest, Einstein and Maric divorced in 1919, and he married his cousin, Elsa Löwenthal, the same year. Einstein died in 1955 at the age of 76.

Frequently asked questions