Through the Looking Glass Book Reviews: Black History Month - Celebrating African-American Inventors

Welcome!

Dear Book Lovers, Welcome! I am delighted that you have found The Through the Looking Glass blog. For over twenty years I reviewed children's literature titles for my online journal, which came out six times a year. Every book review written for that publication can be found on the Through the Looking Glass website (the link is below). I am now moving in a different direction, though the columns that I write are still book-centric. Instead of writing reviews, I'm offering you columns on topics that have been inspired by wonderful books that I have read. I tell you about the books in question, and describe how they have have impacted me. This may sound peculiar to some of you, but the books that I tend to choose are ones that resonate with me on some level. Therefore, when I read the last page and close the covers, I am not quite the same person that I was when first I started reading the book. The shift in my perspective might be miniscule, but it is still there. The books I am looking are both about adult and children's titles. Some of the children's titles will appeal to adults, while others will not. Some of the adult titles will appeal to younger readers, particularly those who are eager to expand their horizons.

Wednesday, February 23, 2022

Black History Month - Celebrating African-American Inventors

Clockwise from top left: Benjamin Banneker, Madame C.J. Walker, George Washington Carver,
Dr. Shirley Jackson, and Dr. Daniel Hale Williams.

There are so many things that we take for granted. We eat our potato chips, drive safely on roads thanks to traffic lights, eat food that has been transported long distances in refrigerated trucks, travel in elevators, and turn on our home security systems without once thinking about the men and women who thought up these inventions. Every single one of these innovations came into the world because of the genius of an African American inventor. Indeed, so many of the things that we use every day were invented by African American inventors whom we have never even heard of.

There are a few books on the subject that you might looking at:

African American Inventors by Otha Richard Sullivan

What Color Is My World?: The Lost History of African-American Inventors by Raymond Obstfeld and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

African-American Inventions That Changed The World: Influential Inventors and Their Revolutionary Creations by Michael A. Carson