Portland Public Schools Geocultural Baseline Essay Series African and African-American Contributions to Science and Technology by Hunter Havelin Adams, III Reviewed by Dr. Carl Spight, Physicist and Kamau Anderson, Engineer Biographical Sketch of the Author Hunter Havelin Adams, III is a Research Scientist, Historian and Consultant. Since 1970 he has been at the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois. He designed and developed diagnostic equipment for the particle accelerator, was technical advisor and lecturer for the High School Summer Student’s Research Apprenticeship Program, and is currently researching the biological effects of magnetic fields. Adams is Co-founder and Associate Director of the Life-Ways Sciences Institute. PPS Geocultural Baseline Essay Series AUTHOR: Adams SUBJECT: Science CONTENTS Contents Page BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR.............................................................................................. I CONTENTS ..........................................................................................................................................................II PREFACE .............................................................................................................................................................V INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................1 PART I - HUMAN BEGINNINGS AND AFRICAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO SCIENCE..............................4 HUMAN BEGINNINGS .......................................................................................................................................4 M A N DEVELOPS FIRST TOOLS, LANGUAGE, DISCOVERY OF TIME...............................................5 MAN DISCOVERS FIRE.....................................................................................................................................6 PROTO BEGINNINGS OF ASTRONOMY.......................................................................................................6 BEGINNINGS OF SPIRITUAL SCIENCE: PSYCHOLOGY AND RELIGION.............7 EVIDENCE OF BEGINNINGS OF GEOLOGICAL SCIENCE......................................................................8 FIRST STEPS TOWARD MEDICINE ...............................................................................................................8 FIRST SYMBOLIC WRITING, MATHEMATICS AND CALENDRICAL NOTATION............................9 SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INVENTION IN THE NILE VALLEY ....................................................9 BEGINNINGS OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE ...........................................................................................................9 DEVELOPMENT OF WRITTEN SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE AND ART WORKS.............................................................10 DEVELOPMENT OF THE FIRST PARADIGMS.........................................................................................................11 ANCIENT NILE VALLEY HYDRAULIC TECHNOLOGY ..........................................................................14 A. The Nilorneter: The First River Depth Gauge..............................................................17 B. Water-Lifting Devices.................................................................................................17 EGYPTIAN COSMOLOGY/TIME IN THE EGYPTIAN MIND...............................................................18 THE EGYPTIAN SYSTEM OF MEASURES ......................................................................................................21 24 EGYPTIAN ASTRO SCIENCE .....................................................................................................................23 A. THE EARLIEST INSTRUMENTS .......................................................................................................................23 B. STAR CLOCKS................................................................................................................................................25 C. EGYPTIAN CALENDARS .................................................................................................................................26 D. THE IMPERISHABLE STARS, PLANETS, ZODIACS AND ASTROLOGY ...............................................................28 E. ASTRONOMICAL TEXTS ..................................................................................................................................31 F. ASTRO-ARCHITECTURAL ASPECTS OF THE GODDESS SESHAT........................................................................32 ARCHITECTUAL TEXTS, TECHNICAL TERMS, AND ARCHIVES .......................................................34 THE GREAT PYRAMID ...................................................................................................................................36 THE SCIENCE OF SOUND...............................................................................................................................38 PSYCHOENERGETICS.....................................................................................................................................41 S-ii AUTHOR: Adams SUBJECT: Science EGYPTIAN MEDICINE ....................................................................................................................................42 MUMMIFICATION............................................................................................................................................46 PAINTING - A WINDOW TO ANCIENT EGYPTIAN CHEMISTRY ........................................................48 EGYPTIAN METALLURGY AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING..........................................................50 EGYPTIAN AERONAUTICS............................................................................................................................52 CONCLUSIONS OF NILE VALLEY SECTION ............................................................................................54 AFRICAN SCIENCE AND THE ISLAMIC TRADITION.............................................................................55 THE HOUSE OF WISDOM - EGYPT'S PREMIER SCIENCE ACADEMY...............................................56 ASTRONOMICAL KNOWLEDGE OF MALI'S DOGON PEOPLE..............................................................60 AFRICAN STEEL-MAKING, SHIP-BUILDING AND MEDICINE.............................................................61 CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN SCIENCE ......................................................................................................61 SUMMARY: SCIENCE IN AFRICA ................................................................................................................65 PART II - AFRICAN-AMERICAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ...............67 INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................................................67 AFRICAN-AMERICANS PLAY KEY ROLE IN DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN MEDICINE ........67 PATENTS, INVENTIONS, AND CONTRIBUTIONS ....................................................................................71 SUMMARY: AFRICAN-AMERICAN SCIENCE ...........................................................................................84 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................................................86 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................................................87 APPENDIX A – FIGURES 1 THROUGH 30 ...................................................................................................93 REFERENCES TO APPENDIX A ............................................................................................................................94 APPENDIX B PATENTS OBTAINED BY AFRICAN-AMERICAN INVENTORS .............................117 APPENDIX C MULTICULTURAL SCIENCE LESSON PLAN OUTLINE..............................................127 INDEX ................................................................................................................................................................129 S-iii AUTHOR: Adams SUBJECT: Science "New conditions and new ideas juxtaposed with the ever expanding human consciousness experience-pool, may alter slightly or sometimes radically the boundaries of human experience; yet, as tomorrow's uncertainties become today's challenges, one thing remains constant -each new generation is creating its present on the transmaterial ground of a broad base of thoughts and accomplishments of its unknown African past " - Hunter Havelin Adams, III, 1986 S-iv AUTHOR: Adams SUBJECT: Science PREFACE Philosphers have long noted that science is deeply embedded in human nature, but what is science? Science is the search for unity and wholeness within the totality of human experience. It is the process of investigation of different phenomena - physical, chemical, ecological, biological, behavioral, cultural, economic, and even spiritual. In this process is everything that the investigator does: - Selection of phenomena to be investigated - Development of paradigms or models or metaphors - Selection of the types of questions to be asked - Selection of the appropriate methodology - Choice of instrumentation - Delineation of protocol and its execution - Assessment of the certainty or uncertainty of the results Yet this