Skip to main content
Search IntMath
Close

450+ Math Lessons written by Math Professors and Teachers

5 Million+ Students Helped Each Year

1200+ Articles Written by Math Educators and Enthusiasts

Simplifying and Teaching Math for Over 23 Years

Tips, tricks, lessons, and tutoring to help reduce test anxiety and move to the top of the class.

Math movie: The exceptional life of Benjamin Banneker

By Murray Bourne, 19 Feb 2017

The exceptional life of Benjamin Banneker tells the story of the son of a former slave father and a free African American mother. Banneker was largely self-educated in astronomy and mathematics.

He assisted in surveying the site of Washington DC, and exchanged letters with president Thomas Jefferson asking him to ensure racial equality.

Banneker built a wooden clock, and taught himself astronomy, accurately predicting solar and lunar eclipses.

Benjamin Banneker almanac cover
Image source

He wrote a series of popular almanacs containing some of his calculations and tidal information.

On with the short video, by TED-Ed.

To conclude, here's a great quote by Banneker:

The colour of the skin is in no way connected with strength of the mind or intellectual powers.

Be the first to comment below.

Leave a comment




Comment Preview

HTML: You can use simple tags like <b>, <a href="...">, etc.

To enter math, you can can either:

  1. Use simple calculator-like input in the following format (surround your math in backticks, or qq on tablet or phone):
    `a^2 = sqrt(b^2 + c^2)`
    (See more on ASCIIMath syntax); or
  2. Use simple LaTeX in the following format. Surround your math with \( and \).
    \( \int g dx = \sqrt{\frac{a}{b}} \)
    (This is standard simple LaTeX.)

NOTE: You can mix both types of math entry in your comment.

top

Tips, tricks, lessons, and tutoring to help reduce test anxiety and move to the top of the class.