DR. GEORGE R. CARRUTHERS: Dr. Carruthers is a black astrophysicist and inventor of the Far Ultraviolet Camera/Spectrograph. Dr. Carruthers is one of America’s most brilliant minds in the area of astrophysics and space science. He has written well over 60 articles for various scientific publications (Astrophysical Journal, Science, Instrumentation in Astronomy, The Interstellar Medium, and others) and was awarded patent number 3,478,216 on November 11, 1969 while he was still in his early twenties. The title of the patent was Image Converter For Detecting Electromagnetic Radiation Especially In Short Wave Lengths, which clearly points to Carruthers burning interest in the electromagnetic spectrum. His extensive research and his development of the ultraviolet camera/telescope, broadened the scope and vision of the science of astrophysics. SEE AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE SCIENCES: Louisiana State University Libraries for additional information

DR. MAE JEMINSON: Dr. Jeminson was the first black woman to make a historic journey into outer space. In recalling her experience aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor in 1992, Dr. Jeminson stated that, "I felt a part of the universe, as much as a planet or the moon. That’s what I remember most. Since then, I’ve always felt very comfortable wherever I was." A medical doctor and engineer, Jeminson had a double major in African American Studies and chemical engineering at Stanford University. After leaving NASA in 1993, she started Jeminson Group Inc. in Houston, Texas, a research organization that focuses on advance technologies, particularly those suitable and practical for developing countries. SEE AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE SCIENCES: Louisiana State University Libraries for additional information

DR. SHIRLEY ANN JACKSON: Following in the tradition of black scientists in physics, Dr. Shirley A. Jackson received her doctorate from MIT in theoretical physics. From 1976 until 1991, Dr. Jackson conducted research in solid state and quantum physics, theoretical physics and optical physics at AT&T Bell Laboratories. Since July 1, 1995, she has held the Chairmanship of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. SEE: AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE SCIENCES: Louisiana State University Libraries for additional information on Dr. Jackson's life's work. She was the first African American woman to receive a doctorate in Theoretical Solid State physics from MIT.

DR. LLOYD QUARTERMAN: In recent years the world has come to learn that there were many black scientists that also worked on the Manhattan Project. Dr. Lloyd Quarterman of Columbia University, one of the black nuclear scientists that worked on the atom bomb, was specifically cited by the U.S. Secretary of War for “work essential to the production of the Atomic Bomb, thereby contributing to the successful conclusion of World War II.” In a rare interview session with Professor Ivan Van Sertima in 1979, Dr. Quarterman revealed some little known facts regarding his life’s work and the other black scientists that worked on the Manhattan Project and other research activities. In his words, "...the world’s first nuclear reactor, which used the atomic splitting process in a peaceful way, was set up here in Chicago. It was under an Italian scientist, Enrico Fermi. In 1948 I did all my quantum mechanics under him." In addition to Quarterman, over 12 black scientists worked on the Manhattan Project. Dr. Ernest J. Wilkins and Dr. William J. Knox, who like Quarterman, played leading roles in helping to solve the riddle of the atom. The other scientists included Sidney Thompson, George W. Reed, Clarence Turner, Dr. Moddie Taylor, Robert J. Omohundro, Sherman Carter, Jasper Jeffries, Benjamin Scott, Ralph Gardner, Harold Evans and Clyde Dillard. As one of the leading black scientists on the Manhattan Project, Dr. Quarterman’s brilliant career included a period of time working with Einstein at Columbia University, and a period of critical research at the Argonne National Laboratory, which he joined in 1946. At Argonne, major research and development of nuclear reactors took place. The team of scientists that Dr. Quarterman worked with developed the first nuclear reactor for the Nautilus, an atomic powered submarine. REPRINT by Permission of KMT Publications All Rights Reserved: Black Futurists In The Information Age, 1997, pages 89-90.

GRANDVILLE T. WOODS: Many people referred to him as the “Black Edison,” for Granville T. Woods was a brilliant inventor in the field of electronics. Granville’s electromechanical genius produced over 50 patents in his lifetime, many of which were highly significant in furthering the technological evolution of the Industrial Age. His love of the mysteries of electricity remained a burning passion throughout his professional career. The Woods Electric Company of Cincinnati controlled the many patents and inventions that came from his fertile imagination. Beginning in 1884 Granville’s reputation as a great inventor grew, as many of America’s largest corporations came to him for use of his patents. Westinghouse, American Bell Telephone, General Electric, American Engineering and others found need of the unique and brilliant electrical designs that Granville produced. Patent number 315,368 (April 7, 1885) was a remarkable invention that could be used to transmit messages by electricity using voice signals rather than the Morse Code. This invention was eventually purchased by Bell Telephone. One of Granville’s other great inventions was the Induction Telegraph, a system designed to facilitate communication between two moving trains. Modern civilization owes a great round of applause to Granville T. Woods and many of the other black inventors that came before and after this great man. But because this civilization fails to recognize black achievement, they are not given the same respect as Edison or Ford. REPRINT by Permission of KMT Publications All Rights Reserved: Black Futurists In The Information Age, 1997, pages 89-90. SEE AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE SCIENCES: Louisiana State University Libraries for additional information.

DR. CHEIKH ANTA DIOP: Albert Einstein's most famous theorem, E=MC2 (energy is equal to mass times the speed of light squared) is a symbolic reminder of his legacy and impact on the 20th Century. James G. Spady’s comments on Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop’s (1923-1986: the Senegalese physicist and African-Egyptologist, and a brilliant linguist, anthropologist, archeologist, historian and political activist) interest in Einstein’s theories is fascinating. He tells us that, "At a time when only a handful of people in the world understood Einstein’s relativity theory, Diop translated a major portion of it into Wolof, the language of his people." During a period of his scientific career, Dr. Diop worked in one of the most distinguished nuclear research centers in France. This particular center was established by Frederick Joliot-Curie, "son-in-law of Marie Curie who, with her husband Pierre, won the Nobel Prize for the discovery of radium." As a Black African Futurist, Diop believed that as the world’s oil reserves are depleted, nuclear fusion (thermonuclear), solar and other energy sources would be the best replacements. He envisioned the replacement of gasoline-fueled automobiles by hydrogen-fueled vehicles, a process that is being examined in research laboratories around the world. Diop felt that the continent of Africa has enormous natural potential for generating many forms of energy sources. In his book, Black Africa: The Economic and Cultural Basis for a Federated State, he explored a number of possibilities for continental growth, unity and development. Dr. Diop is also well known as the "Father of African/Egyptian Egyptology", wherein he (along with Dr. Theophile Obinga) establishes a firm scientific foundation for Black African Egyptian Civilization.

DR. GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER: George Washington Carver was born in Missouri in slavery in 1865, later received an M.S. degree from the Iowa Agricultural College (now Iowa State University), and was a science instructor and researcher at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama from 1896 until 1943. He has long been celebrated as an icon of Black History, and is probably most famous for the invention of peanut butter. Less well-known is the fact that Carver’s research with peanuts was based upon his attempts to solve the problems of the agricultural soil depletion. Beginning with the development of practical crop rotation, his work eventually branched into the creation of more than 1,000 Synthetic materials from agricultural products, including cooking oil, rubber substitutes, bleach, dyes and paints. He also created a method of revitalizing agricultural soil using organic fertilizers. Even more remarkably, the only manufactured scientific tool Carver ever seemed to have possessed was a microscope. He hand-created all of his other scientific instruments himself. Dr. Carver’s research was the forerunner to modern technology, the science of re-engineering plant genes to increase productivity. His research with the sweet potato and peanut, as a nutritious food source and source of industrial products, continues at Tuskegee University today through a NASA contract. Sweet potatoes and peanuts promise to provide the chief source of food for astronauts as these foods are grown in space. SEE AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE SCIENCES: Louisiana State University Libraries for additional information.

DR. ERNEST J WILKINS: Dr. Wilkins is a physicist, mathematician, and engineer (chemical/nuclear). His research, along with Dr. Lloyd Quarterman and Dr. William J. Knox, played leading roles in helping to solve the riddle of the atom. In association with the Enrico Fermi's research group on the atomic bomb project, Dr. Wilkins made his contributions during the years 1944-1946. There were over 12 Black scientists that worked on the atom bomb project, code name, "The Manhattan Project". SEE AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE SCIENCES: Louisiana State University Libraries for additional information.

DR. HENRY T. SAMPSON: African American contributions in the area of nuclear physics have been substantial in the 20th Century. Many of these scientists have labored in research laboratories around the world, receiving little or no recognition for their significant inventions, penetrating research and creative ideas. While researching this area, it was our good fortune to have made contact with Dr. Henry T. Sampson, the inventor of the Gamma-Electric Cell. Dr. Sampson received his BS degree from Purdue University, his MsC from UCLA, and a MsC and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. For many years he was the Director of Mission Development and Operations, Space Test Program at the Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, California, where a great deal of his pioneering work was developed. Continuing in the scientific tradition similar to Drs. Quarterman, Knox, Diop and others, Sampson’s Gamma-Electric Cell device converts nuclear radiation from reactors or isotopes, directly into electricity without going through a heat cycle. The device was awarded patent number 3,591,860 on July 6, 1971. In the nuclear fission process, which involves the splitting of the atom, radioactive materials emit ionizing radiation that can cause serious damage to living tissues. Constructive methods to convert these powerful radiating energies into practical and safe energy sources, is the fundamental philosophy behind the development of Sampson’s Gamma-Electric Cell. His device represents one of the peaceful solutions towards the use of nuclear fissionable products.6 In a completely different arena, Dr. Henry T. Sampson is best known as one of the most important black writers of this century. Sampson’s area of concentration in this field has been the black presence in the film and entertainment industries. His extensive writings in this area are widely recognized as important source material for anyone researching this long neglected area of American history. In his now classic book entitled Blacks in Black and White: A SourceBook on Black Films (now in a newly revised and expanded 2nd Ed., 749 pp.), Sampson traces the history of the black film industry from its beginnings around 1910 to its demise in 1950, chronicling the activities of pioneer black filmmakers and performers who have been virtually ignored by film historians. REPRINTED by Permission of KMT Publications - All Rights Reserved: Black Futurists In The Information Age, 1997, pages 90-91.

DR. ELMER SAMUEL IMES Early pioneering black scientists were also eager to expand the knowledge of this spectrum of energy sources. The first African American to receive his Ph.D. was Edward A. Bouchet (Yale University, 1876) and his concentration was in physics. Dr. Elmer Samuel Imes (a brilliant African American physicist) received his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Michigan in 1918. Dr. Imes’ contribution in advancing the examination of theoretical physics is significant. Historian and economist, James G. Spady elaborates on this point as he writes: "Elmer S. Imes ... established definitely that the quantum theory could be extended to include rotational states of molecules. His doctoral dissertation, one of two known publications by Imes, appeared in the Astrophysical Journal, 1919. Measurements of the Near Infrared Absorption Spectra of Some Di-atomic Molecules initiated the field of high-resolution spectral studies. This alone earned for Imes a lasting place in both theoretical and industrial physics." REPRINTED by Permission of KMT Publications - All Rights Reserved: Black Futurists In The Information Age, 1997, pages 87. SEE AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE SCIENCES: Louisiana State University Libraries for additional information.

DR. DALE EMEAGWALI: Molecular Biologist and a top researcher in her field, Dr. Emeagwali was presented "the National Technical Association's "1996 Scientist of the Year" award on October 18, 1996. Some of her research "accomplishments include the discovery of the existence of isozymes of kynurenine formamidase in the basterium Streptomyces parvulus which, prior to her findings, were known only to exist in higher organisms. Dr. Emeagwali also proved that cancer gene expression could be inhibited by antisense methodoloy, which she says can lead to better treatment for cancer". For more information SEE the DALE EMEAGWALI WEBSITE.

WILLIAM R. NORTHOVER: A brilliant chemist, Northover’s pioneering work at Bell Labs (from the 1960s to the 1980s) gave birth to some of the most important developments in fiber optics research. During a period of eight years of intense research, Northover and colleagues focused on the science of glass fiber lightguides that could transmit digitally coded information. In the 1990s, this technology is generally known as fiber optics, one of the most astounding scientific developments of the 20th Century. Further advances in fiber optics have lead to some of this century’s most incredible inventions, with the impact on the telecommunication industry being the most dramatic. Fiber optic laser systems are completely revolutionizing communication networks all over the world. The glass fiber lightguides that Northover helped to pioneer have expanded the entire breadth and width of the communications universe. REPRINTED by Permission of KMT Publications - All Rights Reserved: Black Futurists In The Information Age, 1997, page 97.

BRIAN JACKSON: Jackson represents one of the most creative minds in the continuing development of semiconductor technology. Working out of the Advanced Large Scale Integration Development Laboratory at Murray Hill (the place where the transistor was born) during the 1980s, Jackson was one of the first scientists to experiment with using the X-ray lithographic technique to create designs for semiconductors. He specially designed and built a computer to automatically per-form the semiconductor inscription task, and creatively used mathematical and programming methods to fine tune the operation. REPRINTED by Permission of KMT Publications - All Rights Reserved: Black Futurists In The Information Age, 1997, page 96.

DR. BARTHOLOMEW O. NNAJI, Ph.D: Dr. Nnaji is a professor of industrial and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. His many responsibilities include his post as director of the Automation and Robotics Laboratory at UMASS; founder and director of NEMESIS, The National Center for Computer-Aided Medical Imaging and Devices for Diagnosis and Surgical Intervention Systems; founder and chairman of Geometric Machines Corporation; and editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Design and Manufacturing. Originally from Nigeria, Dr. Nnaji is an internationally recognized expert and consultant on robotics and automation. As a robotics researcher, Dr. Nnaji has worked to develop robots that perform precision manufacturing with great efficiency. He is at the cutting edge of a revolution in robotics that is destined to fundamentally change the working environment in the 21st Century. REPRINTED by Permission of KMT Publications - All Rights Reserved: Black Futurists In The Information Age, 1997, pages 96-97.

EARL D. SHAW: Shaw is a pioneer in laser technology and is recognized by some history books as one of the early developers in his field. He is known as the co-inventor of the spin flip Ramon laser, "an important demonstration of lightwave turnability used for air pollution and other molecular measurements." Shaw’s research developed a design to expand the range and complexity of laser technology. SEE AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE SCIENCES: Louisiana State University Libraries for additional information.

DR. RON McNAIR: Dr. McNair was a physicist and astronaut, and internationally known as a leader in laser physics technology. A man of many talents, Ron was also a fifth-degree black belt karate instructor and a jazz musician. Ron died aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger (in the company of six other astronauts) when it exploded in midair on January 28, 1986, one minute and thirteen seconds after lifting off from Kennedy Space Center. REPRINTED by Permission of KMT Publications - All Rights Reserved: Black Futurists In The Information Age, 1997, page 94. SEE JSC CELEBRATES BLACK HISTORY MONTH for additional information on Dr. McNair and a listing of other Black Astronauts.

BENJAMIN F PEERY: Dr. Peery is professor emeritus in astronomy at Howard University. His areas of research include the physics of stellar structure, evolution and nucleo-synthesis, and the physics of interacting binary stars. COMMENTARY: In the 21st Century there will be an enormous push to explore the vast potentials of our universe. The “Outer Space Connection,” with its infinite possibilities, has long been a subject of interest by black people the world over. From ancient African Civilizations, to the Dogon Cosmological System, to Benjamin Banneker of the 18th Century, to modern day astronomers and scientists such as, Benjamin Peery, the black mind has been pondering the mysteries of the universe. A great deal of excitement will be generated in the field of space science in the 21st Century, particularly as new discoveries are made and space travel becomes a practical experience through the telescopic eyes of unmanned space vehicles. REPRINTED by Permission of KMT Publications - All Rights Reserved: Black Futurists In The Information Age, 1997, page 94-95.

DR. PHILIP EMEAGWALI: Dr. Emeagwali is one of the "New Millennium" computer scientist that is establishing major braekthroughs in his area of expertise. "He is an interdisciplinary computer scientist and inventor who developed software that allowed multiple processors to tackle complex problems simultaneously, paving the way to solving problems once thought unsolvable. He has increased the speed of a massively parallel computer to as much as 1,000 times faster than a main frame computer and 1,000,000 times faster than a personal computer." (Published in Daily Sketch on May 6, 1996). SEE Philip Emeagwali: Africa's most honored scientist and inventor.

ROSCOE GILES Ph.D.: Dr. Giles was formerly a theoretical physicist and currently serves as a Boston University professor of electrical and computer engineering,and is a recognized computing pioneer and advocate for minorities in science. His specialized research interests center on Advanced Computer Architectures,and Distributed and Parallel Computing Computational Science. Extending the power and processing capabilities of the "Supercomputer" is a major area of concentration in his research (SEE ("SuperComputing, What is it?: An Interview with Roscoe Giles"). Dr. Giles is a member of the NCSA Alliance Executive Committee, a team leader for the Education, Outreach, and Training Partnership for Advanced Computational Infrastructure (EOT-PACI), Deputy Director of the Center for Computational Science and co-director of the Boston University MARINER project. SEE ROSCOE C. GILES WEB PAGE

CHRISTINE M. DARDEN, D.SC.: Dr. Darden is a NASA aeronautics scientist and one of the leading thinkers working to solve the sonic boom factor, which one day will allow planes to fly at hypersonic speeds (about two to three thousand miles an hour). From 1989 to 1994, Dr. Darden was group leader of the Sonic Boom Group at NASA Langley’s Systems Analysis Division. REPRINTED by Permission of KMT Publications - All Rights Reserved: Black Futurists In The Information Age, 1997, pages 93.


Publisher and co-author of
Black Futurists In The Information Age
Khafra K Om-Ra-Seti


KMT Publications
P.O. Box 881913
San Francisco, CA 94188-1913
Fax: (415)822-7204
email:kmt49@citycom.com