As we come to the end of Black History Month let’s remember these amazing people who made massive contributions in STEM!
Benjamin Banneker, mathematician and astronomer
He carved a clock from wood (which is said to be the first clock made. He successfully predicted the 1789 solar eclipse. And he had a key role as a surveyor when the territory for Washington D.C. was being mapped. Banneker also wrote and published an almanac, yearly, between 1792 and 1797.
Christine Darden, mathematician and aerospace engineer
Christine Darden was a NASA mathematician and aerospace engineer. In 1967, she was added to the pool of ‘human computers’ who wrote complex programs and tediously crunched numbers for engineers at NASA’s Langley Research Center. It was 22 years after the end of World War II, and female mathematicians before her gained respect in the field of data processing while men were away at war.
“But Darden wanted to do more than process the data – she wanted to create it”…
Mary Jackson, engineer and mathematician
Mary Jackson was NASA’s first female African American engineer. She was one of the women at NASA whose story was depicted in the Hidden Figures movie. At NASA, she worked on research related to the Supersonic Pressure Tunnel.
Gladys West, mathematician
Gladys West is a mathematician who worked on the processing and analysis of satellite data that helped lead to the development of the Global Positioning System (GPS).
Mark Dean, computer engineer
Mark Dean is a computer engineer who co-developed the first personal computer. Additional contributions at IBM led to color monitors, the Industry Standard Architecture bus (which allows you to connect devices like printers to computers), and the first gigahertz chip.