Dear Editor:
We have people of every ethnic background and color from all over the world living in our country. Here are some whom many of us have never really heard of, or if we have, have not been familiar with why they are so important to our society today.
For example, a Hungarian by the name of Dr. Semmelweis proved the medical link between antiseptics and improving survival rates of women giving birth in 1850. Archimedes, from Syracuse, Sicily, invented the first method of pulling water uphill against gravity (the Archimedes Screw). Laszlo Biro from Hungary invented the ballpoint pen in 1938.
In 1867, Lucien Smith of the United States patented barbed wire. A Scottish gentleman, Kirkpatrick MacMillan developed the first wheeled pedal-powered bicycle. A French innovator, Louis Daguerre developed the process of photography in 1839 and the first camera. An Englishman, Joseph Aspdin developed hydraulic cement in 1824. Guns were developed in China in the 10th century. Paper was first used in 105 in China.
Aristotle from Greece made many contributions to the sciences in the third century B.C. while Euclid, also a Greek, is the father of modern geometry. Nicholaus Copernicus, a Polish scientist formulated a heliocentric view of the universe, his book On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres was written in 1543. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was a Dutch scientist considered the father of microbiology.
A Russian, Dmitri Mendeleev formulated the periodic law and standardized the Periodic Table of Elements in the early 20th century or late 18th century. Nicola Tesla from Servia worked on electromagnetism and AC current and held many radio transmission patents as well. An East Indian, Jagadish Chandra Bose (shortened name) contributed much to plant physiology, microwave optics and radio waves.
We have had many black United States inventors like Benjamin Banneker who planned out the city of Washington, D.C., and was one of the innovators for the rights of slaves and free black folks, or Patricia Bath from Harlem who invented the Laserphaco Probe used for the treatment of cataracts. Charles Drew, from Washington, D.C., invented the first blood banks. Thomas Elkins invented the first modern toilet among other inventions. Then we have Philip Emeagwali from Nigeria who in 1989 created the world's fastest computer. How about Frederick Jones, the self-taught engineer who invented a refrigeration machine used to transport blood, food and medicine during World War II?