The Life of Benjamin Banneker: The First African-American Man of Science

by Silvio A. Bedini

“The Life of Benjamin Banneker offers remarkable insights and artistry in its picture of a time of fascinating social complexity requiring delicacy in its diagnosis and skill in its reconstruction. It is difficult to characterize this exquisite story of the first black scientist without superlatives which seem out of place in describing an account of a life so simple and at the same time so sublime and which is reproduced in masterful prose equally simple, accurate and appropriate. Here is a searching book that—like a light suddenly thrown on in the darkness—illuminates a long neglected scientific spirit struggling for recognition.”

448 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

Reviews

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first time I heard of Benjamin Banneker was through Rita Dove's poem "Banneker." Born 1731, he was a free black man raised in Maryland who, like his parents, grew to be a tobacco farmer as well as a self-taught mathematician, astronomer, and almanac writer. He also raised bees. At 22 he first gained fame when he made a clock, which worked perfectly, striking on the hour for over 100 years. People would travel to his remote farm just to see the clock and meet "the unusual Negro farmer" who put it together.

He recently came to my attention again when I was running on the Mt. Vernon trail through the newly renovated and reopened Jones Point Park. There at the point is the cornerstone marking the southern boundary of our nation's capital, set in place in 1792 and protected by a glassed-in case. Benjamin Banneker helped to define those boundaries. His skills as a mathematician and astronomer left an impression on those who knew him, and one of those people was Major Andrew Ellicott, a professional surveyor who was given the job of surveying the land on the Potomac River that would define the federal boundaries. He asked Banneker to be his assistant. And now, 220 years later, on an educational panel on the east side of the point, right next to a lighthouse built in 1855, is a portrait of Ellicott and Banneker describing their role in establishing the capital. Hooray! I thought upon seeing it, and decided to order this book from the library so I could learn more about this remarkable man and the time in which he lived.

The reading has been rich and American history just continues to be more and more wondrous than it seemed when I was a kid learning about generals, presidents, and wars. I wonder if there's more of a People's History approach in middle and high schools now. That wasn't the practice of the teachers in my time, hence the need for poets like Rita Dove, among the first to enrich my sense of history.

[Theresa Leone Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a whole lot of documentation still exists regarding Banneker's life but there's enough, and Bedini is honest with what he searched for but could not find. Banneker is mostly remembered for his almanacs and the work he did surveying Washington, D.C. There's also a lot that is sad: one letter from someone else claims Banneker was invited to eat with the white men, for instance, who were also surveying Washington but Banneker felt it was inappropriate so he ate separately. He also led a very isolated life, and while nothing he wrote indicates he was particularly lonely, one can't help but think he must have been. He never married or had children, and the prevailing idea throughout the book is what a gifted mathematician and scientist he was without a formal education. Imagine what Mr. Banneker would have accomplished if he had had the same opportunities as whites. Very well written biography about someone who, from all indications, was a gentleman and a great man.

[Betsy Sander · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned so much about B. Banneker; was ptt prompted to read this bio after seeing an exhibit at the African-American Museum in DC.

[Brigette Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned about Benjamin Banneker in the book Grand Avenues, where he is mentioned as someone who helped survey the land that became Washington D.C. A Black tobacco farmer from the late 1700s/early 1800s who was a self-taught astronomer, almanac writer, and surveyor and who contributed to early American history? Surely, I said to myself, this person has multiple biographies written about him! Well, this is the only really descriptive non-children's book biography I could find. So here we are.

While Benjamin Banneker's amazing life was covered extremely well in this book (the amount of research was obvious) and I loved all of that, a lot of extra knowledge is imparted on the reader that isn't quite necessary, so be prepared to slog through it - pages and pages of Ellicott family history (some of them were part of Benjamin's life, but a few sentences about who they were would do, honestly), a long explanation of how tobacco was farmed in the 1700s, I could go on. Also, the author made assumptions about events that occurred (or, rather, didn't occur) based solely on the fact that written proof didn't exist or someone didn't do something the author thought they would have done if that event had happened, to which I say, you don't know what you don't know.

To sum up, this book could have been much shorter and still of so much value as a biography of a truly incredible person that more people should know about. I mean, historical icons like Frederick Douglass were excited to know about this man's existence and thought more people needed to hear his story. Benjamin Banneker is definitely someone to learn about if you love American history and this book is helping to do just that. So I'm giving five stars for the 75% that was actually about Benjamin Banneker, two stars for the 25% that really wasn't necessary. Four-ish stars average.