Blacks In Science

Providing an overview of the lost sciences of Africa and of contributions that blacks have made to modern American science, Blacks in Science presents a range of new information from Africanists. The book also includes bibliographical guides that are crucial to further research and teaching.

The lineaments of a lost science are now emerging and we can glimpse some of the once buried reefs of this remarkable civilization. A lot more remains to be revealed. But enough has been found in the past few years to make it quite clear that the finest heart of the African world receded into the shadow while its broken bones were put on spectacular display. The image of the African, therefore, has been built up so far upon his lowest common denominator. In the new vision of the ancestor, we need to turn our eyes away from the periphery of the primitive to the more dynamic source of genius in the heartland of the African world. — Ivan Van Sertima

Ivan Van Sertima (1935-2009) was professor of African studies at Rutgers University. He was visiting professor at Princeton University and lectured at more than one hundred colleges and universities. He edited the Journal of African Civilizations, which has greatly changed the way in which African history and culture are taught and studied.