Black Pioneers of Science and Invention: Fourteen Innovators Who Saved Lives and Altered American History

by Louis Haber

A readable, perceptive account of the lives of fourteen gifted innovators who have played important roles in scientific and industrial progress. The achievements of Benjamin Banneker, Granville T. Woods, George Washington Carver, and others have made jobs easier, saved countless lives, and in many cases, altered the course of history.
Includes a bibliography and an index.

Genres: Science, History, American History, Nonfiction, Biography

272 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1970

Reviews

[Taneysha forsyth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hi i am a 8th grader who loves to read books about our history.This book basically explains to me about who was the first african americans who created things such as hair products.I think my review would knock your soxs off.You want to know what is going to happened wait and see in this review...............


BLACK PIONEERS
of science and invention

This book author came up with a good method because he used the way of a real scienist will talk about how they come up with such a good idea.I basically think they went threw alot of changes to become famous of making things.I thought the author didn't use that much of italcis plus her isn't show or tell you about how the person feel.But any ways the good method was he showed how it feels when you are king of mad stressed and other types of emontions.I basically can see and make a picture in my mind about how hard he or she is working to put together the project.I felt kind of nevous for the main person because he or she worked long hours all day long.



This reminds me of the time when my teacher mad me work mad hard just to get a 90% in her class.I had to work long hours and long days and night to pull up my grades.i was kind of sad to work hard all day long because i wanted to be with my friends and hang out afterschool with them. I am kind of happy because without these african american black people we would not have all the stuff we have now.I learned alot about my history.

[Precious Simba · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It opened my eyes of a long list of black mavericks that deserve to be celebrated in society. The reason i didnt give the book a five star rating is because the list is entirely male which i think is a great shame that takes away the authority of the list. Understandibly so, the list is not meant to be exhaustuve however an acknowledgement of both male and female scientists/inventors would have it more poignant. The fact that there are some female scientists who are acknowledged in passing but not biographed plays into a patriarchal narrative that erases the advances made by women. Otherwise awesome book that i recommend especially to people of colour so that can celebrate these icons.

[Roberta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally finished this book. Although I read it over the course of a year, it was well worth it. The facts in the book are some that I have never heard before. It was good to hear inventions and scientific discoveries from the late 1800 and 1900s. I am following up with the author’s work on female scientists. I can’t wait to dig in to that book as well.

[Patricia Stinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book covers known, but mostly unknown Black scientists and inventors. It tells about their hardships due to economic factors and racial obstacles. It is refreshing to read about the contributions of Black people who are not entertainers or athletes. I recommend Louis Haber's Black Pioneers of Science and Invention.

[Laurie Moll · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. We owe so much of our healthcare knowledge to Black men who had to work twice as hard for half the recognition of their white counterparts. It was written in the early 70s, so the language could use an update, but what a joy it was to read this to my kids so they could see the contributions that African Americans have made to the advancement of science.

[Marley Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic listen, it is very informative. It reminds me a lot of of the textbook biography excerpts in elementary school. I learned a lot and much of our modern science and medicine is to be credited to the black pioneers of science and invention.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is written for a YA audience, but well done. This is stuff we all should have learned in school, but didn't. He wrote another book on Women in Science that I plan to read as well.

[Omar Khedr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic book that was eye opening - showing the scale of black science contributions

[Carol Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, but informative biographies of some of the scientific greats in the USA who didn't receive the acknowledgment they should have because they were black.

[Cindy]

This book would be great for not only science purposes but also for Black History Month. This biography discusses the achievements of Benjamin Banneker, Granville T. Woods, George Washington Carver, and others. These men worked hard to make jobs easier, saved countless lives, and in many cases, altered the course of history.

[Rabin]

So far seems to be a great resource for young people re: intellectual giants of the 18th to 20th century. Some (like Charles Drew and G.W. Carver) are already known by many, but I look forward to reading about a number of new scientists.

[Geoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was really cool. A lot of regular things were invented and pioneered by blacks1 I had no idea. The gas mask, traffic lights, and electrical lighting were all pioneered and invented by Negros!!!!

[Zaki · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great introduction to the accomplishments of people of African descent in the U.S. I found myself wanting to know more about these individuals when I finished reading this book.

[Sakariya]

The book we will be discussing today is called Black Pioneers of Science and Invention. The reason I was drawn to this book was because first, it fed my hunger of historical evidence in books, second it showed me that black African Americans were not just famous because of sports and what not, this book gave me a sense of pride for my complexion. The Genre of this book is Nonfiction science. The author who wrote this book is named Louis Harber. This book gave biographies of many African Americans who devoted their life to the name of science. My overall reaction was about this book is that African Americans played a crucial role in the name of science. This book boosted my morale and help me feel more confident. In this day and culture we have the stereotype that African Americans are only famous because of sports or music, this demeans our morale a lot. However this book counters that stereotype and helps undermine it.