Famous Black Scientist Blacks have played a very important role in the diverse science discipline and made important contributions to scientific and technological development since the origin of United States. The achievements of mathematician Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806), America’s first Black notable scientist, perfectly forecasted a solar eclipse, to the daring explorations of outer space. Blacks have made their mark in virtually every imaginable aspect of science and technology (Hans J. Massaquoi 1997).
Benjamin Banneker was born on November 9, 1731 near Elliott City in Baltimore County, Maryland. His parents, Mary and Robert Banneker were free blacks.
Benjamin was the eldest of the four children they had. Benjamin Banneker had a profound perceptive of the meaning of liberty. Molly Welsh was his English grandmother. She was his first teacher and taught him to read and write by using a Bible. Benjamin had a sharp mind, and he quickly learned all the lessons taught by Molly. Since Benjamin had to work full time on his father’s farm when he grew older, but he continued to educate himself in all of his life time.
Benjamin Banneker joined a school where both black and white students were studying. It used to get open only during the winter months, when the children did not have to work on their parents’ farms. The few years Benjamin spent there constituted the only formal education he ever received. He was so good at mathematics that visitors used to come from far away with practical problems or brain teasing puzzles to get the solution. He was one of the first African Americans to obtain distinction in science. At the age of twenty-two, Banneker built a striking clock without ever having seen of that kind.
The Essay on Benjamin Banneker 2
Without Benjamin Banneker, our nation's capital would not exist as we know it. After a year of work, the Frenchman hired by George Washington to design the capital, L'Enfant, stormed off the job, taking all the plans. Banneker, placed on the planning committee at Thomas Jefferson's request, saved the project by reproducing from memory, in two days, a complete layout of the streets, parks, and ...
Banneker enjoyed the mathematical challenge of calculating the proper ratio of the many gears, wheels, and other parts, then fitting them together to move in harmony. His clock operated for more than forty years, striking the hours of six and twelve. Visitors used to come from far away to see the amazing achievement of this self-taught man. During the day, he worked in farm and he often spent whole nights studying the stars. Banneker’s studies progressed rapidly, and he began making all the calculations necessary for an almanac for the Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia regions. Banneker spent months together making and recording astronomical observations, maintaining the field astronomical clock, and compiling other data required by Ellicott.
This work made him more interested than ever in astronomy, and when he returned home, he spent uncountable night hours at his telescope (Clinton Cox, 2000).
Banneker life was ended at the age of 74 on October 9, 1806. Benjamin Banneker was one of America’s greatest intellectuals and scientists. Benjamin Banneker has made great contribution for the designing of the City of Washington. This was the first of many of the African American inventors that have with good records. In 1791, he served on a project to make a survey for the District of Columbia, helping to design the layout for Nation’s capital. Banneker had a deep interest in natural phenomena, so he started publishing an almanac in 1791 and continued its publication until 1802.
The almanac became extensively used all through the early United States. He published a paper on bees, did a mathematical study on the cycle of the seventeen-year locust, and became a pamphleteer for the anti-slavery movement. Banneker began the study of astronomy and had started predicting future solar and lunar eclipses, when he was 58 years old. He compiled the ephemeris, or information table, for annual almanacs that were published for the years 1792 through 1797. “Benjamin Banneker’s Almanac” was a top seller from Pennsylvania to Virginia and even into Kentucky. It was more popular for its accuracy. In 1791, Banneker was a technical assistant in the calculating and first-ever surveying of the Federal District, which is now Washington, D.C.
The Essay on Benjamin Banneker Almanac Bannekar Black
Benjamin Banneker Benjamin Banneker was a phenomenal African-American mathematician, astronomer, and inventor. He was born near Baltimore, Md. , on November 9, 1731. He was the son of a slave and a free black woman. He grew up as a free black, and while attending school he demonstrated early mathematical ability. His childhood curiosity led him to explore a wide variety of other subjects. In about ...
He was globally known for his accomplishments and became an advisor to President Thomas Jefferson. Banneker’s life is utmost inspiring. Despite the popular prejudice of his times, he was quite unwilling to let his race or his age hinder in any way against his hunger for intellectual development.
Bibliography:
1) Clinton Cox; African American Teacher; Publisher: John Wiley & Sons. Place of Publication: New York. Publication Year: 2000. Page Number: 5-7, 10, 172. 2) Hans J. Massaquoi; Blacks in Science and Technology; Magazine Title: Ebony.
Volume: 52. Issue: 4. Publication Date: February 1997. Page Number: 172..
