David Harold Blackwell (April 24, 1919 – July 8, 2010) was an American statistician and mathematician who made significant contributions to game theory, probability theory, information theory, and Bayesian statistics. He is one of the eponyms of the Rao–Blackwell theorem. He was the first African American inducted into the National Academy of Sciences, the first black tenured … [Read more...] about Saturday Open Thread: Black Geniuses That Inspire
Black Geniuses That Inspire
Friday Open Thread: Black Geniuses That Inspire
Percy Lavon Julian (April 11, 1899 – April 19, 1975) was an African American research chemist and a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants. He was the first to synthesize the natural product physostigmine, and a pioneer in the industrial large-scale chemical synthesis of the human hormones progesterone and testosterone from plant sterols such … [Read more...] about Friday Open Thread: Black Geniuses That Inspire
Thursday Open Thread: Black Geniuses That Inspire
Jane Cooke Wright was a pioneering cancer researcher and surgeon noted for her contributions to chemotherapy. In particular, Wright is credited with developing the technique of using human tissue culture rather than laboratory mice to test the effects of potential drugs on cancer cells. She also pioneered the use of the drug methotrexate to treat breast cancer and skin … [Read more...] about Thursday Open Thread: Black Geniuses That Inspire
Wednesday Open Thread: Black Geniuses That Inspire
Tiya Alicia Miles is an American historian. She is a Professor of History at Harvard University and Radcliffe Alumnae Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. She is a public historian, academic historian, and creative writer whose work explores the intersections of African American, Native American and women’s histories. … [Read more...] about Wednesday Open Thread: Black Geniuses That Inspire
Tuesday Open Thread: Black Geniuses That Inspire
Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer. In the 1960s, he was one of the founders of free jazz, a term he invented for his album Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation. His "Broadway Blues" has become a standard and has been cited as an important work in free jazz. His album Sound Grammar received the 2007 Pulitzer … [Read more...] about Tuesday Open Thread: Black Geniuses That Inspire