Book Review: 101 Black Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics: Leaders in Black History, by L. A. Amber. Published January 14, 2020, 319 pages. Lexile measure not available. Recommended for grades 3 through 12, but even adults can learn a lot from this non-fiction work. Please note: this book is not yet in the Pageturner library and requires student requests in order for purchases to be made.

I really loved poring through this highly informative effort; it celebrates Black women in all the sciences through more than 150 years of history essentially hidden because, well, our culture doesn’t embrace intelligent Black women.  (As always, the opinions expressed herein are mine alone, although this one is patently obvious.) What I loved best is, it provides all the information I might otherwise have had to research and include as footnotes! (N.B. This claim turned out to be false, mea culpa.) 

“Children shouldn’t grow up thinking that STEM learning means boring textbook reading. Instead, this book will get them excited about science through fun and motivational stories. Our main goal is to introduce STEM-related concepts and present STEM-associated careers in an inspiring and entertaining way. We feel that any kid, teenager, or adult would benefit from this book, no matter their gender, race, or age… We have included within the stories STEM concepts and definitions in order to enrich understanding, but we have left other concepts for your child to discover on their own or to engage adults in conversation about. We hope this will improve discussion and quality time between parents and kids. Hopefully these science snippets will spark curiosity and motivate children, as well as adults, to look for more information.”

If you’re a regular reader of this informal blog, you already know I take great pride in the education I’ve been gifted--but I learned facts here I should’ve known. For example, I’m the mother of two adult children, yet I never noticed they were unable to shed tears as infants! (They more than made up for it by emphatically vocalizing their discomfort.)

Sarah Boone was born a slave. In 1863 she and her husband, freed by Lincoln, moved north. As a dressmaker, she habitually toiled over heavy irons on various surfaces. (1)  The worst was ironing sleeves; so she tried making various types of surfaces and eventually developed an ironing board that could hold a narrow sleeve in place for ironing without fuss. She sought for and obtained a patent, becoming one of the first Black women to patent an invention:

“What is a patent? A patent gives an inventor the right to stop other people making or using their invention or design. If someone uses the invention without being given permission, the inventor can sue that person in court to make them stop. A patent lasts for years, depending on the country. After that, anyone can copy the invention.” (2)

The book also informs us that the first electric iron was developed in 1882. Its design was vastly different from today’s irons; it didn’t have a cord! (3)

Of course, only the barest highlights can be covered here. All of these women fascinate, but my next focus is Eliza Ann Grier, who was born just after Lincoln freed the slaves.  She became the first Black woman to practice medicine in Georgia, and her focus was OB-GYN. She opened a private practice, as working with White doctors meant giving him/them almost all fees collected:

“What is an OB-GYN? OB-GYN is the medical specialty that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and women’s health after childbirth… Did you know...? Human adults have 206 bones in their bodies, but when babies are born, they have 300 bones. These bones fuse together as a child grows, resulting in fewer bones as adults. Eight out of ten babies are born with some form of birthmark. Newborns recognize their mother’s voice at birth. Their head accounts for 25 percent of its weight. Newborns don’t shed tears. Until babies are between one and three months old, their tear ducts and glands only produce enough liquid to lubricate and protect their eyes.”

Roger Arliner Young lived to 1964 and was the first Black woman to become a zoologist.  She really had to fight for it; first, she had to drop out of school to care for her mother.  After she got her PhD in zoology, she faced a terrific backlash, both because of her gender and the color of her skin:

“Roger returned to Howard University to teach, but she was fired because of rumors that she was dating Everett Just. In reality, Roger was fired because she was a woman. She was a victim of workplace discrimination. 

“What is a PhD? A PhD is a postgraduate doctoral degree—the highest university degree, awarded to students who complete an original thesis offering a significant new contribution to knowledge in their subject.

“Did you know...? Jellyfish use the same hole for eating and pooping. That may seem gross to you, but it really doesn’t matter to them, as they don’t have brains. Warmer weather can cause more female turtles than male turtles to be born. Flamingos have knees that can bend backward. Snakes always keep their eyes open, even when they are asleep. Crickets have ears on their front legs.”

Marguerite Thomas Williams lived to 1991 and was the first Black geologist--of either sex-- to earn a PhD. Many of the women listed in this book earned advanced degrees from Columbia University in New York, to which we owe a debt of gratitude:

“Marguerite went on to earn her master’s degree in geology from Columbia University, after which she returned to Miner Teacher’s College. Marguerite later went on to earn her PhD in geology, becoming the first African American—male or female—to earn a doctorate in geology in the United States. 

“Salt, a mineral, was so valuable in ancient times that it was traded ounce for ounce with gold. The most common mineral found on Earth is called quartz.”  We learn further what geologists do and the various other disciplines involved, for example, chemistry, physics and biology.

Anna Johnson Julian lived to 1994 and was the first Black woman to receive a doctorate in Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania:

“What does a sociologist do? Have you ever wondered if boys and girls are really that different? How about why we have problems such as racism, or what motivates bullies? These type of questions are studied by sociologists. Sociology is the study of human societies, or groups. We all belong to many groups, such as family, school, and community groups. Sociologists study how these groups shape our beliefs and behavior.

“She married a prominent chemist, Percy Lavon Julian, and the two opened up a laboratory specializing in synthesizing hormones in bulk. With the success of their lab, Anna and Percy moved into a new house in a predominantly white neighborhood in Chicago. Their neighbors were not welcoming, and the couple’s house was often vandalized. The town even refused to switch on their water just because they were black. But Anna and Percy refused to be intimidated!”

Dorothy Vaughan was a mathematician living to 2008.  What I loved best about her story is this quote: "I changed what I could and what I couldn't, I endured."

Joan Murrell Owens became a marine biologist even though no schools had any career courses in that field: “She enrolled at a second university, which also didn’t offer a program in the field she wanted to study—so she made one. Joan combined aspects of two similar fields to be able to study marine biology and graduated with a bachelor’s degree. Not long after, she got her master’s degree and her PhD. Joan Murrell Owens was ready to begin the work, but she was at a disadvantage compared to other researchers. A rare medical condition prevented Joan from diving deep underwater, which restricted her research. But that didn’t stop her. Instead, she did lab research at the Smithsonian Institution. There, she discovered and named a new species of her own! Did you know...? Since the architecture and chemistry of coral are very close to that of human bone, coral has been used to help human bones heal quickly and cleanly. 

“Lobsters communicate by peeing at each other! They have urine nozzles just under their eyes, and they spread pheromones—a chemical produced by a living organism that transmits a message to other members of the same species—by peeing in the direction of other lobsters.”   Well, that killed any appetite I might ever have for lobster; just as well,  it's beyond my price range!

Annie Easley was a computer scientist, mathematician--and rocket scientist. “Annie learned computer programming. She developed computer code for analyzing alternative energy technologies for electric vehicles. Some of her work later led to battery development for hybrid cars. She also helped develop software for Centaur, a booster rocket that launched spacecraft. Annie was literally a rocket scientist. How exciting it must have been to become the first African American woman rocket scientist!”  I loved her forthright take on her reality, as well: “If I can’t work with you, I’ll work around you.”  Now THAT’s power!

Angela Benton was born in 1981 and is a digital designer: “What do digital designers do? Digital designers use creativity and computer skills to design visuals associated with electronic technology. They create everything from websites and computer game graphics to special effects for movies. They may work in a variety of industries, including entertainment, education, and advertising.

“In 2007, Angela left her job in a big tech company in order to launch Black Web 2.0. Angela gave credit to many extraordinary African Americans and published their stories on her website. The community quickly grew to include not only black Americans but people of all races and genders. Over time, the small site she’d started grew into a multinational and multiracial platform with millions of visitors.

“Did you know...? A goldfish has an attention span of just nine seconds. This seems short, but it is longer than that of the average internet user. Digital designers must design websites to deliver the content to their audience in the shortest amount of time possible.”

Timnit Gebru is an electrical engineer from Ethiopia, who’s pointedly written, “If we don't have diversity among researchers, we won't address problems faced by the majority of people in the world.”  

“As the cofounder of the group Black in AI, Timnit has worked hard both to increase diversity in the field of artificial intelligence and to reduce the negative impacts of racial bias in training data used for human-centric machine learning models. Timnit has become one of the most prominent researchers in artificial intelligence. Through her research, Timnit learned that facial recognition technology does not work as it should because it is skewed against women of color, which made her begin to question the use of this technology. How does facial recognition work? Facial recognition technology uses a camera to pinpoint facial features and create a map of the person’s face. The data gathered can then be analyzed against prerecorded facial images in a database to identify the person in question. Faces are matched based on their visual geometry, including the relationship between the eyes, nose, brow, mouth, and other facial features.”

Born in 1982, Jedidah Isler is an astrophysicist. “…the first African American woman to receive a PhD in astrophysics from Yale University. After finishing school, Jedidah went into the field of scientific research—specifically, exploring the physics of blazars.

“What is astrophysics? Astrophysics is the study of how stars and planets work and how we can learn about them. Astrophysicists use physics to explain what astronomers find and see. In 2015, Jedidah was recognized as a TED Fellow for her innovative research and her efforts to inspire a new generation of STEM leaders from underrepresented backgrounds. She has worked with schools, museums, libraries, and nonprofit organizations across the country to advance the cause of inclusive STEM education and is the creator and host of the monthly web series Vanguard: Conversations with Women of Color in STEM. What are blazars? Blazars are supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies that create particle jets moving at nearly the speed of light. A black hole does not have a surface, like a planet or star. Instead, it is a region of space where matter has collapsed in on itself. This catastrophic collapse results in a huge amount of mass being concentrated in an incredibly small area. The gravitational pull of this region is so great that nothing can escape—not even light. Jedidah Isler worked hard to get to where she is. She is recognized for dedicating her career to better understanding our universe and championing access and empowerment in STEM fields.”

We’ve skipped around a lot, but the last woman I’d like to highlight here is Aisha Bowe.  Born in 1996, her story differs significantly from all these women who skipped grades, went to college as pubescent teens, and excelled in everything they did practically from birth.  

“Unlike many women with successful careers, Aisha Bowe was never particularly motivated to do well. She never thought that she could do anything or be anyone great, so she didn’t try. She spent her lower education years unchallenged, uninterested, and poor, surrounded by people who told her that she wouldn’t amount to much and who encouraged her to take a job and skip higher education. All of that changed when Aisha went to community college. With no real career path in mind, Aisha enrolled in economics courses. It took very little time for her to decide that economics wasn’t for her. So she took a mathematics class and found her passion!”

Today, at just 28 years old, Aisha Bowe is an astrophysicist at NASA.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 (1) “Metal technology began developing in the 1800s, hastening the evolution of the smoothing iron. Flatirons could be heated atop cast iron stoves, making the job much easier and cleaner than fire. By 1870, wooden handles were used, preventing users from receiving burns, as wood does not retain heat in the manner of iron.” https://nationalmaglab.org/magnet-academy/history-of-electricity-magnetism/museum/smoothing-iron-1882/

(2) “For utility patents, which are the most common patent type, patent protection lasts for 20 years after the filing date of the patent application.”
https://www.justia.com/intellectual-property/patents/duration-of-patent-protection/

(3) “The first electric iron was heated on a stand that was hooked up to an electrical source by detachable wires. One big problem was that it heated very slowly on the stand, and cooled quickly while in use.” https://archives.sharlothallmuseum.org/articles/days-past-articles/1/irons-the-evolution-of-a-household-staple

                                                                                                                                                                   **********