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Overview
Benjamin Banneker, born in 1731, was a man ahead of his time. As a free African American in a time of slavery, Banneker was not welcome in white society, and he spent most of his life on his Maryland farm. There he harnessed his keen and curious intellect to teach himself complex mathematics and astronomy. Banneker secured a place in history with many accomplishments, including his role in surveying the site for the capital city, Washington D.C., and his published almanacs with precise tide calculations and weather predictions. Banneker's accomplishments were used by abolitionists as proof of the intellectual powers of his race, and Banneker himself was one of the first African Americans to speak out against slavery.A biography of the eighteenth-century African-American who taught himself mathematics and astronomy and helped survey what would become Washington, D.C.
Editorials
From The Critics
Benjamin Banneker: Astronomer and Mathematician, written by Laura Baskes Litwin is one of 25 books in the African-American Biographies series. The volume unfolds in narrative form starting with Banneker, at age 50, finishing up the plans for Washington, DC. Subsequent chapters deal with his life, inventions, discoveries, and writings. Included are numerous black-and-white pictures and drawings. Several of the latter show the tools he had to invent and the maps and charts he drew as a surveyor and astronomer. Also referenced is his highly accurate wooden clock that struck the hour. Banneker built this clock after looking at the workings of a pocket watch. The easy-to-read and informative book gives a rich picture of the life and times of a self-educated black man in the 1700s. The volume shows how education and learning were the key to Banneker's success and illustrates how they can play the same role in the life of any people who desire to better themselves. Also shown are the friendships he developed with some of the most influential people of the time, the majority of whom played a direct role in the formation of the United States. The book concludes with a chronology, chapter notes, a list of further readings and an index. This is definitely a worthwhile book for the middle school or junior high school student. It would best used in a classroom or library as a reference book for a report on a famous African-American. (from the African-American Biographies Series.) Highly Recommended, Grades 7-12. REVIEWER: Robert Burchell (Paramus Catholic High School)Kirkus Reviews
A legendary counterpoint to the well-worn saying about old dogs and new tricks, Banneker (his name a corruption of his grandfather's African name, Banaka) farmed tobacco for the first 40 years of his adult life, then suddenly developed a burning interest in astronomy that led to several popular annual almanacs, a pointed letter to then-Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson challenging his racist views, and to becoming a cause celebré for the early abolitionist movement. Litwin details these and other accomplishments in a straightforward way, backing up her facts with endnotes and repeating main points; the book is illustrated with contemporary documents, and concludes with lists of books and Web sites. Banneker is a popular subject for biographers, but this is unusually readable and systematic. (b&w photos, not seen, chronology, notes, index) (Biography. 10-12)Book Details
Published
July 1, 1999
Publisher
Berkeley Heights, NJ : Enslow Publishers, c1999.
Pages
112
Format
Binding
ISBN
9780766012080