Benjamin Banneker - by Charles A Cerami (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The first biography of a major figure in early US and African American history

A household name and unparalleled hero revered in every African American household, Benjamin Banneker was a completely self-taught mathematical genius who achieved professional status in astronomy, navigation, and engineering. His acknowledged expertise and superior surveying skills led to his role as coworker with the Founding Fathers in planning our nation's capitol, Washington, DC. His annual Banneker's Almanac was the first written by a black and outsold the major competition. In addition, he was a vocal force in the fight for the abolition of slavery. Yet, despite his accomplishments, there has been no biography of this important man-until now. Written by an author with strong ties across the Washington-Maryland-Virginia area where abolitionist societies revered Banneker, this long overdue biography at last gives the hard-earned attention this prominent hero and his accomplishments deserve.

From the Back Cover

Advance praise for "Benjamin Banneker: Surveyor, Astronomer, Publisher, Patriot"

"Herein breathes the universal genius Benjamin Banneker -- mathematician, astronomer, diarist, and sage.

Biographer Charles Cerami mines the available data, eschews the apocryphal, and renders his subject human. Captured completely is the flowering genius of a largely home-schooled boy wonder, exhibiting mathematical wizardry while devouring the Bible, Plato, Epictetus, and virtually every other extant tome. The fabled memory that could have reproduced L'Enfant's plan for the entire District of Columbia becomes palpable and real.

We understand how the pragmatic farmer who was imbued with Quaker ideology endured decades of ignominious racism with overt equanimity while haunted by incessant night terrors. We comprehend the heroism of the man whose very existence refuted Thomas Jefferson's notorious public denial of black intellect in Notes on Virginia when, speaking truth to power, Banneker launched an anti-slavery epistle at the ambivalent and duplicitous Jefferson. We are enraged at the account of arsonists setting fire on the day of Banneker's funeral to the small, rustic log cabin where the genius had labored in solitude among his instruments, papers, and books. We are grateful to Charles Cerami, who has resurrected the spirit of a neglected giant and gifted us with a biography nearly two centuries overdue."
--Kweisi Mfume, President and CEO, NAACP

"Like Benjamin Banneker, Charles Cerami presents the product of his research in a modest yet compelling manner. Cerami engagingly writes about both Banneker the genius and Banneker the man-a thought-provoking read."
--Raymond G. Dobard, Ph.D., Professor of Art, Howard University, and coauthor of "Hidden in Plain View: A Secret story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad"

Review Quotes

* "...written with a clarity and simplicity..." (Times Literary Supplement, 31 May 2002)

About the Author

CHARLES A. CERAMI is a former principal editor of the Kiplinger Washington Publications and an economist who has written extensively for the "Atlantic Monthly," the "New York Times Magazine," "Playboy," "Parade," and other leading publications. He is the author of ten books, including "Successful Leadership in Business"; "Alliance Born of Danger"; "More Profit, Less Risk"; and "A Marshall Plan for the 1990s."