These Three Overlooked Black Inventors Shaped Our Lives

Tue, 26 Apr 2022 07:00:00 GMT
Scientific American - Technology

The innovators changed the nature of household work, industrial production, and high tech

There are a number of Black inventors who have become part of our national consciousness.

Instead of using people to transfer liquid with increased sugar content from one cauldron to another, he connected several sealed vacuum pans together with pipes, and linked one of those pans to a steam engine.

Instead of heating each individual pan with a flame below it, steam from the engine boiled the liquid in the first pan.

The vapor produced during that evaporation process wasn't wasted, but instead directed through a pipe to the next pan and used to heat it.

Each successive pan was heated by the vapor of the previous pan.

The sugar liquid, which also flowed from pan to pan, increased in concentration with each step and this process saved on fuel.

His parents tried to dissuade him, because his father knew three Black chemists who could not get work in a laboratory.

One day West accidently disconnected the power supply and then heard something strange.

Rillieux, Boone and West are just a few of the thousands of Black inventors who have touched our lives, each overcoming challenges to bring about their innovations.

The ability of these Black inventors to overcome major obstacles-both social and technical-can also inspire all of us to persevere against the challenges we all face.