Ted Stewart - The Mark of a Giant: 7 People Who Changed the World

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Stewart, Ted, author.

The mark of a giant : 7 people who changed the world / Ted Stewart ; Foreword by Chris Stewart.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-60907-181-3 (hardbound : alk. paper)

1. Religious leadersBiography. 2. ScientistsBiography. I. Title.

CT104.S744 2013

920dc232013009323

Printed in the United States of America

Edwards Brothers Malloy, Ann Arbor, MI

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To John Braithwaite
and other giants in my life

Foreword

It has been my great honor to work with my brother, Ted Stewart, on several national bestselling books over the past few years. One reason I have so enjoyed working with him is the fact that he is a brilliant observer of history. He sees things that many historians dont see, or that they may see but not judge as being very important. Part of the reason he has such an interesting perspective on history is that he is able to see things from a 30,000-foot level. (The big picture is always the most importantand the most interestingpart of the story to tell.) Part of it is his ability to recognize patterns in the unfolding of the human story and then to tie them together in ways that help us understand why these events were important in their day and why they still matter to us now. Finally, I think he is a marvelous storyteller. He is able to set the scene and to provide insight into the minds and intentions of the characters that is compelling and helps us to see the wonder in life.

The Mark of a Giant is a great example of those abilities.

History is the most fascinating of hobbies. It lets us dive into the realm of human emotions and the most vivid dramas while giving us the added satisfaction of knowing they are real. Thats why books such as this are so importantand so much fun to read. They give us a better understanding of our world. They help us appreciate the struggles of the past, the price that was paid to move us forward, and how a few men and women have shaped and benefitted our world. They sharpen our minds and entertain us. What more could we ask!

In The Mark of a Giant we get to ask ourselves some fascinating questions. How did Abraham of the Old Testament alter our modern world? Did an ancient Greek political leader called Pericles really change the way our government was formed? How did a small and humble woman who earned the title Mother change so many hearts in a world where so many seem so heartless? Who was the most brilliant scientist ever born, and why have his discoveries changed the outcome of time? All of these were giants who helped to change and shape the world.

Then we get to ask perhaps the most important question of them all: If there were giants among us then, are there giants among us still?

These are the questions that this book is going to answer. And though it is impossible to take the grand sweep of human history and boil it all down to a few hundred pages, Ted has done a brilliant job of highlighting a few men and women who have truly changed the scope of history, individuals whose impacts have remained with us through all the generations and will remain with us for a thousand years to come.

Theres an old adage that my father used to quoteyouth is wasted on the young. The same is true of history; too often it is valued only by those who have lived enough of it to appreciate the past. But for those of us who have come to love history and the lessons that it teaches, for those of us who would rather curl up with a good history book than with anything else, The Mark of a Giant is treat that is to be savored and enjoyed.

My only regret is that I didnt get to help him write ithow much fun it would have been to have learned all of these great stories for myself!

Chris Stewart

Introduction

Giants

This is a book about history. More specifically, it is a book about how strong-minded men and women have changed the course of history.

Through the centuries, the image of a dwarf sitting on the shoulder of a giant has been used to express the idea that we owe our own successes largely to the contributions of great people. A short man who finds himself sitting on the shoulder of a giant can actually see farther than the tall man because his sight is at the higher level of the two. As long ago as A.D. 1159, John of Salisbury wrote: Bernard of Chartres used to say that we are like dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, so that we can see more than they, and things at a greater distance, not by virtue of any sharpness of sight on our part, or any physical distinction, but because we are carried high and raised up by their giant size.

We live in a remarkable era. In so many ways, it is the best of all times. More of the earths people live with freedom than at any time in world history. The pursuit of social equality is more widespread than at any time in the record of mankind. Medical advancements help us to live longer and to enjoy those extended years with less pain and more comfort. Economic prosperity is more pervasive and within the reach of a larger number of people than ever before. Science is harnessed not only to enrich our lives but to expand our horizons into the far reaches of the universe.

With all of the tyranny and poverty and assault on traditions that exist in todays world, it is still a truly wonderful time in which we are fortunate to live!

Why is that so? Can we take credit for this remarkable age? Ought we not to be honest enough to acknowledge that todays world, with all that is amazing and beautiful about it, exists as it does because of those giants who went before us?

This book is about seven of those giants, seven men and women who left their mark upon the world in which we now live. Thanks to them, we have not just the ability to gaze farther but the opportunity to live the abundant life in countless ways.

What is it about those few that makes them different? Are there character traits that they share in common? Or were they merely in the right place at the right time?

Do these notable ones craft their own destiny? Or are they somehow chosen?

Famed American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson, in memorializing the recently assassinated Abraham Lincoln, said in his tribute to that great man, There is a serene Providence which rules the fate of nations.... It makes its own instruments, creates the man for the time, trains him in poverty, inspires his genius, and arms him for the task.

There is no doubt that Abraham Lincoln was such a man. His imprint upon the history of this nation and the world is beyond dispute. There are many who contend that he was a gift of God to the human race.

Are all of those giants in world history in fact men and women called by serene Providence? Were they all, truly, gifts of God?

Or were they the product of their own genius or their own unique gifts? Were they giants because they were brave, or determined, or full of faith?

This book will not attempt to answer those questions. Instead, it encourages readers to draw their own conclusions after they have read something of the lives and exploits of certain men and women who have lived great and earned the title of giant: