Join us on a fun and exciting journey through Black history for the entire month of February! All month long we will be STEAMing Up Learning about some of the greatest thinkers and inventors in our nation’s history – and they just happen to be Black. Each week for the month of February, we will highlight Black pioneers in the following areas:
It is our hope that not only will you uncover some gems in these great pioneers but that you will also tap into some of your own unrealized greatness that connects you and your children to these trailblazers.
We look forward to going on this journey with you. Happy Black History Month!
Today we are going to take a trip through history and explore some of the most brilliant Black minds in the world of mathematics. Get ready to be inspired and amazed as we learn about some incredible mathematicians and their groundbreaking contributions. From the early 1800's, to the days of the civil rights movement, to the present, these mathematicians have made a huge impact in the field and beyond!
Benjamin Banneker was a man ahead of his time. Born in Maryland in 1731 to free parents, he was an American astronomer, mathematician, surveyor and so much more. Despite facing significant obstacles due to his race and lack of formal education, Banneker made significant contributions to science and society during his lifetime.
David Blackwell was a pioneer in the field of statistics and the mathematical foundations of game theory, which is the study of how and why people make decisions. He was the first African-American inducted into the National Academy of Sciences, the first African-American tenured faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley, and the seventh African-American to receive a Ph.D. in Mathematics.
Haynes began her career as a teacher and quickly realized that there were few resources available to help her teach mathematics to her students. Consequently, she decided to pursue advanced education in mathematics in order to develop her own teaching materials. Haynes' research and teaching materials were not only influential in the field of mathematics education but also in the field of mathematical logic.
Elbert Frank Cox was the first Black person in the world ever to receive a Ph.D. in Mathematics (1925, Cornell University). In his 40 year-long tea...
Johnson was known as a "human computer" because of her incredible ability to perform complex mathematical calculations. She was responsible for verifying the calculations made by electronic computers, which were still in their infancy at the time. Her work was critical to the success of many NASA missions, including the first manned orbit of the Earth by John Glenn, and was chronicled and celebrated in the New York Times Bestseller Hidden Figures and the Academy Award nominated hit movie of the same title.
