• Banneker's almanacs were used by both farmers and scientists.feather image by peter Hires Images from Fotolia.com
  
  Benjamin Banneker was born a free man in 1731. From an early age Banneker was interested in intellectual pursuits. Banneker is best known for his work in helping to design Washington D.C. and for his almanacs, which he sold throughout the American colonies. Today Banneker is admired for his unapologetic quest for recognition and for his efforts towards equality for African Americans. The almanacs he researched and wrote are full of philosophy, astronomy, medicine and mathematics.
  
  

Intellectual Pursuits

• Banneker is called America's first African American intellectual. From an early age he was interested mathematics and mechanics although he was largely self-taught. A popular anecdote recounts that he was able to successfully build a wooden clock after studying the mechanism of a neighbor's. Banneker intuitive understanding of mathematical principles led to his inclusion in the team that was surveying and designing the nation's new capitol city. Banneker did not create new theorems or formulas of his own, although he was well versed in mathematical theory and application.
  
  

Lunar and Solar Eclipses and Tidal Charts

• The almanacs that Banneker wrote were intended to be all-inclusive resources for readers. Since many of the people using almanacs were farmers and rural townspeople. Therefore, any information that impacted agricultural or rural communities had to be included. Banneker's almanacs contained information for six years, which meant that he had to devise formulas that would allow him to accurately calculate future lunar, solar and tidal activity precisely enough to be reliable. Banneker's intelligence and his personal interest in astronomy motivated him to produce very accurate calculations.
  
  

The Natural World

• Banneker used his deep understanding of mathematics and his love of the scientific method to make examine the natural world. His almanacs are full of medicinal formulas designed to cure animal and human illnesses and injuries. Banneker also discovered the 17-year life cycle of locusts and published treatises on beekeeping that used mathematics formulas to explain bee behavior in detail far surpassing that of more formally educated contemporaries.