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

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Silvio A. Bedini
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The Life of Benjamin Banneker: The First African-American Man of Science Hardcover – January 1, 1999

by Silvio A. Bedini (Author)
“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.”
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The Life of Benjamin Banneker: The First African-American Man of Science
The Life of Benjamin Banneker: The First African-American Man of Science
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Whether Banneker was the absolute first or not is debatable, but he undeniably was one of the earliest African American men of science (1731-1806). This updated edition of the 1972 original has been expanded to include new photos and information on his African roots gleaned from his archives and manuscripts as well as archaeological artifacts from his home.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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A well-researched and conscientious account…a splendid accomplishment.

(New York Times Book Review)

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Silvio A. Bedini
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Silvio A. Bedini

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Silvio A. Bedini was born in 1917 in Ridgefield, Connecticut, and died more than 90 years later outside Washington DC. He was a historian of science and a writer, authoring 23 books and innumerable articles and other small pieces. His interests were broad and his experience varied. He studied comparative literature at Columbia University, was a cryptographer for the Army in WW2, and ran a construction and landscaping business. His professional expertise spanned early American surveying instruments, 17th century Italian clockmaking, and ancient Asian timekeeping. After 15 years in administration at the Smithsonian Institution, Bedini served for 9 years as its Keeper of Rare Books before retiring as Historian Emeritus in 1987. He was a member of numerous professional societies, and was a recipient of the Abbott Payson Usher Award, the Paul Bunge Prize, and the highly recognized Leonardo da Vinci Medal from the Society of the History of Technology.

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  • Gail T. Murdock
    5.0 out of 5 stars Benjamin Banneker - the man and the myths
    Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2002
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    . Why is there a DC high school named for Benjamin Banneker? If you read this book, you will find out that this local-boy-made-good was a free African-American tobacco farmer who was born and lived his entire life just outside of what is now known as Ellicott City, MD. He had an early interest in mathematics, science, and astronomy, and with a pocket knife and some other tools built one of the first clocks ever made in the 13 American colonies, out of wood. For this he became locally famous, and made friends with some of the younger members of the Ellicott family, who were Quakers, anti-slavery advocates, and owners of some mills in what was then known as Ellicott's Mills. They lent him some mathematics and astronomy texts, and eventually gave him a telescope. He taught himself a considerable amount of mathematical and observational astronomy, and eventually began, around the age of 60, to publish an almanac detailing the locations of the planets and the Moon for the coming year, as well as predicting eclipses and sunrises and sunsets - all based on laborious and lengthy calculations and diagrams that he made himself.
    Eventually, he was tapped for an even greater role - he was hired to help Major Andrew Ellicott in the astronomical and chronometric portion of the most important surveying job of his day - laying out the 10 mile by 10 mile square that eventually became the District of Columbia.
    This very well-researched book also helps lay to rest some of the myths about what Banneker did and did not do during his most unusual lifetime; unfortunately, many websites and books continue to propagate these myths, probably because those authors do not understand what Banneker actually accomplished. Many state, for example, that Banneker's clock was an exact copy of one he saw, which is not true -- he figured out the mathematics and physics on his own for a clock made out of wood, instead of trying simply to copy the small pocket watch that he was lent to observe. However remarkable this clock was, it was not the first clock made in America. Other sources continually repeat the myth that when Pierre l'Enfant was fired from the job of laying out the new Federal City, Benjamin Banneker recreated l'Enfant's plans from memory. Bedini lays this myth to rest and shows us that what Banneker actually did in terms of astronomical work was actually much more difficult -- in fact, it was in the league of the work done by Mechain and Delambre to measure the length of the meridian that passes through Dunkirk, Paris and Barcelona, with the purpose of defining the meter for all time. But that's another story -- but if you want to read about it, check out Ken Alder's The Measure of All Things: The Seven-Year Odyssey and Hidden Error that Transformed The World.
    If you read this book, you will also see some facsimiles of his widely-known almanac, some of his correspondence with Thomas Jefferson where he vainly attempts to convince the future president that African Americans are just as smart as European Americans, photographs of some of the equipment that he used, and so on. Unfortunately, Banneker's house, and all of its contents (including the wooden clock and many of his astronomical workbooks) burned to the ground on the day of his funeral.
    28 people found this helpful
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  • Ben
    5.0 out of 5 stars A side of history rarely seen
    Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2019
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    Bedini does a fantastic job of displaying the interesting character of Benjamin Banneker. We don't often here of the positive relationships between African-American men and women and their European-descended counterparts, but this book certainly gives us that. This would be interesting to anyone who appreciates the development of America in the 18th century since Banneker contributed to the surveying of Washington, D.C., but it will be especially interesting to those who live in Maryland as you discover his close ties to the Ellicott's and remember that you can still visit these quaint places with a nice day trip.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • J. R. Morgan
    5.0 out of 5 stars This is THE Book on Banneker
    Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2015
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    This is THE book that a person who truly wants to get an understanding of Benjamin Banneker's life and accomplishments needs to read. To my mind, this is the definitive book on the life and legacy of Benjamin Banneker. Great read for the scholarly types.
    6 people found this helpful
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  • Satish C. Bhatnagar
    5.0 out of 5 stars GOING TO BE 100 YEARS OLD!
    Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2016
    Format: Paperback
    GOING TO BE 100 YEARS OLD!
    It has been more than a month when I finished reading the book, The Life of Benjamin Banneker, written by Silvo A. Bedini. It came into my hands under a strange sequence of circumstances going back to 2007. Its publication story is also chequered, which any reader can figure it out. Anyway, this book was published in 1972 i.e. forty-four years ago. My prediction is that it will pass the litmus test of 100 years.
    It is about the life of the first Afro-American, who was born as a free slave. He turned out a self-taught mathematician, astronomer, surveyor, writer, poet and humanist, who was sensitive to the conditions of slavery. In 1791, he wrote to Thomas Jefferson, then US Secretary of State arguing that the treatment of blacks in the young United States was unwarranted and unfair. His quest for learning, life of dignity and perseverance were ignited by his grandmother, which he nurtured them to the end of his life.
    Benjamin Banneker was the grandson of a blonde Welsh woman. She was shipped to Maryland area of the present US as indentured labor for five years in order to avoid the capital punishment. After she got her freedom back, she bought two African slaves, married one of them, and bore four daughters. Benjamin was the son of the first daughter and a free African slave.
    The material of the book could not be more painstakingly collected. Benjamin Banneker was born in 1731 when the US was not in the womb of history yet. He died in 1806 - living through the first US presidency of George Washington. Thirteen colonies were all British. So who would care to keep the records on the lives of the slaves in big plantations particularly? That is where, Silvo Bedini, who claims to be an investigative writer, has done stupendous job of searching materials and records from individuals, city halls, libraries, and what not. Documents cover 34 pages, Reference Notes cover 31 pages and Bibliography covers 27 pages. Still, the meat of the book takes 306 pages. It is a labor of love, as Bedini has indicated in the Preface. It took him nearly 13 years to collect the material and put them together in a book. Silvo is not a man of mathematics or science, but is acclaimed as historian of technology!
    The hard cold facts of Banneker’s life provide a drama of its own kind. It is a remarkable read, provided one has a good understanding of the political and social conditions of England and its colonies. For instance, the US had no semblance of a modern college or university. There were a few Bible colleges. Mind it - the modern science associated with the birth of Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was in infancy. Calculus was not even in the mathematics textbooks of Europe.
    The National Association of Mathematicians (founded in 1969) largely consisting of Afro-Americans, and The Benjamin Banneker Association, (founded in 1991), may take up the task of setting up an investigative commission of experts of diverse backgrounds in order to unravel unknown facts on the life of Benjamin Banneker. Silvo has already done the groundwork in many directions.
    Satish C. Bhatnagar
    Feb 21, 2016
    8 people found this helpful
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  • sandytiger
    5.0 out of 5 stars definitive biography of an important American history figure
    Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    exceptional biography, well researched and well written
    4 people found this helpful
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