Most controversial person in history

[The Blaatschapen]

Now, some people in history are decidedly evil like Hitler (though there always people who disagree with him being evil, obviously). But this is not about clearly evil people.

This is about people who had a huge impact on the world. But the end result is decidedly mixed.

My vote for most controversial person, whose impact on the world was huge, is naturally a scientist. Science can be harnessed for both good and evil acts. And the following scientist's inventions most definitely are responsible for good and evil acts.

My choice is Fritz Haber. Fritz Haber is the chemist in the Haber-Bosch process. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haber_process His companion Carl Bosch was more the engineer, the one who made the process scalable.

Now this process is huge. It prolonged World War I. Because binding nitrogen from the air was crucial for making explosives. On the other hand, it created synthetic fertilizer. Which made our agricultural output increase by leaps and bounds. Thus Haber is responsible for a great amount of lives in the world. But modern explosives are responsible for a great amount of deaths. This process alone easily puts him down as both hugely influential, and hugely controversial.

Why not Carl Bosch his companion? Or Robert Le Rossignol his assistant?

There is one more invention. Poison gas. Chlorine gas was invented by him during/for World War I. And in the 1920s, Zyklon A.... mostly famous for being the predecessor for Zyklon B, which was used in the death camps.... Interestingly enough, Fritz Haber was born jewish (though he converted later in life) and several family members died in the camps.

sources (other than wikipedia: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-13015210 )

Ah, but what say you NSG? Which person had a huge impact on life on earth, but the end result being mixed? Gavrilo Prinzip? J. Robert Oppenheimer?

[Phaenix]

I'd say one of the most controversial people in history was Augustus Octavian. He not only was the first Roman emperor, he also greatly increased borders of the Imperium Romaniae, allowing Roman influence to spread far and wide. Yet by expanding the Empire, Augustus greatly increased the amount of slaves captured, historic sites destroyed, and culture assimilated. Personally, I believe the order the Empire brought outweighed the costs, but I still recognize that many may think of Augustus as a destroyer of cultures.

[Sunson]

Genghis Khan, maybe?

Overran half the world, depopulated entire cities, but also the father of modern diplomacy (with its diplomatic immunity).

[Indian Empire]

what about Francis Galton, the guy who invented and coined the term "Eugenics"? And of course that lead to this becoming an element of naziism & fascism. To make things worse, the Brits knighted the guy!

[The Emirate of The Emirate]

john christie
he was a british murderer
the police accused his neigbor
and that, kids is why capital punishment is banned in the uk

[Honeydewistania]

Alfred Nobel. Caused many deaths but he felt guilty and gives money to smart people. No ones really raving about how bad/good he is though.

[Mathuvan Union]

Albert Einstein.
caused the deaths of millions in his work with the Atomic Bomb.

[Autumn Wind]

Albert Einstein.
caused the deaths of millions in his work with the Atomic Bomb.

Einstein didn’t work on the atom bomb. That was Oppenheimer.

And “millions” didn’t die because of the atom bomb.

[Greed and Death]

Christopher Columbus. Yes he was not the first to the New World but he was the one that created sustained contact that led to trade and a doubling of carrying capacity of the world. You do not see that again until the the industrial revolution and even then its not tied to one person. Also while he was an ass to the natives much of what people lay before him is tied to other people or pretty much the norm for late medieval Spain.

[The New California Republic]

From Philosophy in particular, Nietzsche and Heidegger are probably two of the most controversial philosophers of the past couple of centuries.

Nietzsche has been accused (wrongly) of being a proto-Nazi, enabling the Nazis with his theories (which were wrongly interpreted by the Nazis via the meddling of Nietzsche's sister Elisabeth). Nietzsche's views on women etc are controversial however, no misinterpretation needed.

Heidegger is a different kettle of fish, albeit still involving a Nazi angle. Heidegger was a Nazi. He had a major hand in ousting several of his Jewish colleagues from the University where he worked, including his own mentor Edmund Husserl. Heidegger said nothing post-war about his Nazi status, much less an apology.

[Rusozak]

Albert Einstein.
caused the deaths of millions in his work with the Atomic Bomb.

Einstein didn’t work on the atom bomb. That was Oppenheimer.

And “millions” didn’t die because of the atom bomb.

Oh! That reminds me. Oppenheimer.

[Mathuvan Union]

Albert Einstein.
caused the deaths of millions in his work with the Atomic Bomb.

Einstein didn’t work on the atom bomb. That was Oppenheimer.

And “millions” didn’t die because of the atom bomb.

Millions did die because of the aftermath, he helped with some of the research. I still stand true.

[Greed and Death]

From Philosophy in particular, Nietzsche and Heidegger are probably two of the most controversial philosophers of the past couple of centuries.

Nietzsche has been accused (wrongly) of being a proto-Nazi, enabling the Nazis with his theories (which were wrongly interpreted by the Nazis via the meddling of Nietzsche's sister Elisabeth). Nietzsche's views on women etc are controversial however, no misinterpretation needed.

Heidegger is a different kettle of fish, albeit still involving a Nazi angle. Heidegger was a Nazi. He had a major hand in ousting several of his Jewish colleagues from the University where he worked, including his own mentor Edmund Husserl. Heidegger said nothing post-war about his Nazi status, much less an apology.

But Heidegger's girlfriend was Jewish.

[The New California Republic]

Einstein didn’t work on the atom bomb. That was Oppenheimer.

And “millions” didn’t die because of the atom bomb.

Millions did die because of the aftermath, he helped with some of the research. I still stand true.

What? When? How?

[Mathuvan Union]

Einstein didn’t work on the atom bomb. That was Oppenheimer.

And “millions” didn’t die because of the atom bomb.

Oh! That reminds me. Oppenheimer.

Werner Von Braun.
used slave labour to construct V2 rockets, and Operation Paperclip and his ethics led to the CIA's tactics being torture.

[The Blaatschapen]

Einstein didn’t work on the atom bomb. That was Oppenheimer.

And “millions” didn’t die because of the atom bomb.

Oh! That reminds me. Oppenheimer.

I mentioned him in my OP(penheimer)

Christopher Columbus. Yes he was not the first to the New World but he was the one that created sustained contact that led to trade and a doubling of carrying capacity of the world. You do not see that again until the the industrial revolution and even then its not tied to one person. Also while he was an ass to the natives much of what people lay before him is tied to other people or pretty much the norm for late medieval Spain.

Oooh, good choice.

[Dogmeat]

I dunno, probably Marx or Mohamed.

Honorable mention for the hero who finally shot Hitler.

[The New California Republic]

From Philosophy in particular, Nietzsche and Heidegger are probably two of the most controversial philosophers of the past couple of centuries.

Nietzsche has been accused (wrongly) of being a proto-Nazi, enabling the Nazis with his theories (which were wrongly interpreted by the Nazis via the meddling of Nietzsche's sister Elisabeth). Nietzsche's views on women etc are controversial however, no misinterpretation needed.

Heidegger is a different kettle of fish, albeit still involving a Nazi angle. Heidegger was a Nazi. He had a major hand in ousting several of his Jewish colleagues from the University where he worked, including his own mentor Edmund Husserl. Heidegger said nothing post-war about his Nazi status, much less an apology.

But Heidegger's girlfriend was Jewish.

Indeed Arendt was, and that's one of the weird contradictions about Heidegger's life that scholars still discuss today.

[Mathuvan Union]

Oh! That reminds me. Oppenheimer.

I mentioned him in my OP(penheimer)

Christopher Columbus. Yes he was not the first to the New World but he was the one that created sustained contact that led to trade and a doubling of carrying capacity of the world. You do not see that again until the the industrial revolution and even then its not tied to one person. Also while he was an ass to the natives much of what people lay before him is tied to other people or pretty much the norm for late medieval Spain.

Oooh, good choice.

one day you will get a good joke going. One day.
I don't think columbus is controversial as much as pure evil.

[The Blaatschapen]

Oh! That reminds me. Oppenheimer.

Werner Von Braun.
used slave labour to construct V2 rockets, and Operation Paperclip and his ethics led to the CIA's tactics being torture.

And what is the good side of him?

[Phaenix]

Millions did die because of the aftermath, he helped with some of the research. I still stand true.

What? When? How?

Mathuvan's using a bit of hyperbole. Close to 300,000 people died, not millions.

[Greed and Death]

Millions did die because of the aftermath, he helped with some of the research. I still stand true.

What? When? How?

Well Trump's fever came back and he sort of launched the US arsenal at Russia. So shortly is the answer. By the way I am safely in the Southern hemisphere.

[Greed and Death]

Werner Von Braun.
used slave labour to construct V2 rockets, and Operation Paperclip and his ethics led to the CIA's tactics being torture.

And what is the good side of him?

Something something space exploration.

[Free Las Pinas]

Einstein didn’t work on the atom bomb. That was Oppenheimer.

And “millions” didn’t die because of the atom bomb.

Millions did die because of the aftermath, he helped with some of the research. I still stand true.

I’m pretty sure the deaths were a quarter million. I’m also not sure how involved he was in the research, I think Oppenheimer’s research was simply based on Einstein’s, specifically about what destruction could come from an atomic weapon.

[Mathuvan Union]

Werner Von Braun.
used slave labour to construct V2 rockets, and Operation Paperclip and his ethics led to the CIA's tactics being torture.

And what is the good side of him?

he helped americans land on the moon.