Michael H. Hart

Michael H. Hart (born April 27, 1932) is an American author and white nationalist. Since 1978, he has published five books, most notably of the best-selling work, The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History.

Fermi paradox

Hart published in 1975 a detailed examination of the Fermi paradox:<ref name="Hart">Template:Cite journal</ref> the contrast between the extreme likelihood of extraterrestrial life somewhere in the universe and the total absence of any evidence for this. Hart's work has prompted several papers as answers.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Geoffrey A. Landis writes: "A more proper name for [the paradox] would be the Fermi-Hart paradox, since while Fermi is credited with first asking the question, Hart was the first to do a rigorous analysis showing that the problem is not trivial, and also the first to publish his results".<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Robert H. Gray views Hart as the proper originator of this argument, in Hart's 1975 paper. Gray argues that the term Fermi paradox is a misnomer; that it is not the work of Fermi, nor is it an actual paradox (rather an argument). <ref name="Gray2015">Template:Cite journal</ref> He therefore proposes that, instead of the (standard, but in his view incorrect) name Fermi paradox, it should be known as the Hart-Tipler argument – acknowledging Hart's priority as the argument's originator, but also acknowledging Frank J. Tipler's substantial extension of Hart's arguments in his 1980 paper Extraterrestrial intelligent beings do not exist. <ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Hart is an advocate of the Rare Earth hypothesis; he proposed a very narrow habitable zone based on climate studies. He advocated for this hypothesis in the book which he co-edited, "Extraterrestrials: Where are They",<ref name="ZuckermanHart1995">Extraterrestrials: Where are They? 2nd ed., Eds. Ben Zuckerman and Michael H. Hart (Cambridge: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 1995)</ref> in particular in the chapter he contributed to it "Atmospheric Evolution, the Drake Equation and DNA: Sparse Life in an Infinite Universe".<ref name="ZuckermanHart1995" />Template:Rp

The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History

Hart's first book was The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History (1978), which has sold more than 500,000 copies and been translated into many languages. The first person on Hart's list was Muhammad, chosen over Jesus or Moses.<ref>Alphonse Dougan, "Understanding Prophet Muhammad Beyond the Stereotypes", The Fountain, Issue 46 (April–June 2004).</ref> Hart attributes this to the fact that Muhammad was "supremely successful" in both the religious and secular realms. He also accredits Muhammad for his role in the development of Islam, far more influential than Jesus' contribution to the development of Christianity. Hart claims that Paul the Apostle was more pivotal than Jesus to the growth of Christianity.Template:Citation needed

White nationalism

Hart has described himself as a white separatist and is active in white separatist causes.<ref name="SwainNieli2003">Interview with Michael H. Hart by Russell K. Neili, April 14, 2000. Template:Cite book</ref> In 1996, he addressed a conference organized by Jared Taylor's white separatist organization, New Century Foundation, publisher of American Renaissance. He proposed partitioning the United States into four states: a white state, a black state, a Hispanic state, and an integrated mixed-race state.<ref name="SwainNieli2003" />

At the 2006 American Renaissance conference, Hart, who is Jewish, had a public confrontation with David Duke, the former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and former Louisiana state representative, over Duke's antisemitic remarks. Hart then stood up, called Duke a Nazi and stormed out and some participants jeered at Hart.<ref name="i105"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After this incident, Hart left American Renaissance.<ref name="i105"/>

In 2009, Hart organized a racist<ref name="i105"/> conference in Baltimore with the title Preserving Western Civilization. It was billed as addressing the need to defend "America's Judeo-Christian heritage and European identity."<ref name="preservingwesternciv.com-Purpose">Template:Cite web</ref> Invited speakers included: Lawrence Auster, Peter Brimelow, Steven Farron, Julia Gorin, Lino A. Graglia, Henry C. Harpending, Roger D. McGrath, Pat Richardson, J. Philippe Rushton, Srdja Trifković, and Brenda Walker.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In this conference, Hart compared the Qur'an to Mein Kampf and Islam to Nazism.<ref name="i105">Template:Cite web</ref>

Books

• The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History, 1978 (Revised Edition, 1992)
• Extra-Terrestrials, Where Are They? (co-edited with Ben Zuckerman), 1982 (Second Edition, 1995)
• A View from the Year 3000 (Poseidon Press, 1999)
• Understanding Human History (Washington Summit Publishers, 2007)
• Restoring America (VDare, 2015)
• Puzzles and Paradoxes (Austin Macauley Publishers, 2024)

External links

• Preserving Western Civilization bio
• Template:C-SPAN