Benjamin Banneker, born on this day in 1731, is a great example of the power of self education and being a late bloomer. Benjamin Banneker, the mathematician, astronomer, inventor and writer was largely self-educated in astronomy by watching the stars and in mathematics by reading borrowed textbooks. He started studying astronomy when he was 58 years old and was soon predicting future solar and lunar eclipses. It is said that on many nights, he would wrap himself in a great cloak and lie under a pear tree and meditate on the revolutions of the heavenly bodies. He would remain there throughout the night and take to his bed at dawn. When he was a young man, he borrowed a pocket watch from a neighbor; he took it apart and made a drawing of each component, then reassembled the watch and returned it, fully functioning, to its owner. From his drawings Banneker then proceeded to carve, out of wood, enlarged replicas of each part. Calculating the proper number of teeth for each gear and the necessary relationships between the gears, he constructed a working wooden clock that kept accurate time and struck the hours for over 50 years. In 1791, when Banneker was 60, he was appointed to a three man team of surveyors to survey the future District of Columbia. Banneker, the paper said, was an Ethiopian whose abilities as surveyor and astronomer already prove that Mr. [Thomas] Jeffersons concluding that that race of men were void of mental endowment was without foundation. Banneker and Ellicott worked closely with Pierre LEnfant, the architect in charge. However, LEnfant could not control his temper and was fired. He left, taking all the plans with him. But Banneker saved the day by recreating the plans from memory. Also in 1791, Banneker created his acclaimed Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Almanac and Ephemeris. He published the almanac for six consecutive years between 1792 through 1797. Benjamin Bannekers Almanac was a top seller from Pennsylvania to Virginia and even into Kentucky. In 1792 Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, white supremacist, and slaver pronounced Blacks mathematically inferior. In response to Jefferson, Benjamin Banneker sent a copy of his almanac along with a twelve page letter to Jefferson requesting aid in improving the lot of American Blacks. He attacked Jeffersons proslavery stance for his absurd and false ideas and urged him to recognize that one Universal Father…afforded us all the same sensations and endowed us all with the same faculties. Jefferson acknowledged Bannekers letter, writing him a response, which Banneker published alongside his original piece of correspondence in his 1793 almanac. Banneker lived for four years after his almanacs discontinued. He published a treatise on bees, did a mathematical study on the cycle of the seventeen-year locust, and became a pamphleteer for the anti-slavery movement. He continued scientific studies by night and walked his land by day. He also continued to keep his garden. He hosted many scientists and artists of his day, and his visitors commented on his intelligence and on his knowledge of everything of importance that was happening in the country. His last walk (with a friend) came on October 9, 1806, he complained of being ill and went home to rest on his couch. He died later that day. To read Bannekers letter to Jefferson visit: math.buffalo.edu/mad/special/banneker-benjamin.html#banneker stemics.org/
Posted on: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 04:43:23 +0000
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