{"product_id":"life-of-benjamin-banneker-9780684134987","title":"Life of Benjamin Banneker","description":"\u003cp\u003eOrginally published by Scribner in 1972 to wide praise and critical acclaim  Silvio Bedinis work remains the definitive biography of Benjamin Banneker  the self-educated mathematician and astronomer who became Americas first black scientist. Born a free man in Maryland in 1731  he had little formal education but developed a remarkable aptitude for mathematics. He assisted in surveying the area that was to become the District of Columbia  but his real achievement came with the creation of almanacs. Through much of the 1790s  his work influenced daily life in Pennsylvania  Delaware  Maryland  and Virginia. In 1791 he took up his pen and wrote to Thomas Jefferson  arguing that the treatment of blacks in the young United States was unwarranted and unfair. In his own time  antislavery activists hailed his accomplishments  and today his life is honored as a model of achievement. But as is the case with many famous lives  myth and legend have begun to cloud history. In recent years  Banneker has been memorialized for things he did not do  such as designing the city of Washington.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45651737280565,"sku":"ByrdShop_0684134985","price":285.43,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780684134987.jpg?v=1781838797","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/life-of-benjamin-banneker-9780684134987","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}