Reviews for Black Apollo of Science

The average rating for Black Apollo of Science based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-06-13 00:00:00 Tia Blair Black Apollo of Science: The Life of Ernest Everett Just by Kenneth R. Manning is an amazing biography of a Black man who lived in the U.S. 1883 until death from illness in 1941. I read this biography in the mid-1980s, when I was an assistant professor. The book came to my attention because it was discussed at a meeting of Ford Foundation post-doctoral fellows. A scientist talked about it and the book details how racism limited the life of this very talented biologist. There are many lessons for the sciences and how they operated to limit new ideas and approaches. Reading the book as a sociologist, I picked up the details of his early life and struggles, as well as how Just was a racial pioneer in predominantly White institutions, including getting his bachelors at Dartmouth in 1907. Yet that degree could not get him across the color line, so he was limited to teaching in Black institutions. Just taught at Howard and worked very hard, but there was no support for him as a researcher. He did build a support network and did work at Woods Hole, but he continually faced people who saw him as limited because of his race. He was light in color and during most of his life, mulatto was still a census category. Yet, many scientists and foundation heads could not see him as talented, including many who worked closely with him. His life is much struggle to secure external support and time released from teaching. Including people who wrote about him to foundation with their own implicit biases, seeing Just as only a hard worker who should be pleased to embrace his role as a teacher. Re-reading this book as I have retired, it is amazing. There as so much I missed because I was beginning my career, teaching as well as learning about grant writing, and negotiating with universities about indirect costs and release time. Reading this biography again, I have a strong appreciation for the tortured life that Just led. He was also caught in the early 20th century thinking about race. Just grew up in the South, where he had to learn to pay deference to White people. Most importantly he structured a life to limit interaction with White people and even though he worked side by side, Just maintained a distance from them. Just makes many of the right moves, he marries and works to enhance the Medical School at Howard at a time when it was one of the only institutions training Black doctors. He suffered under poor administrators and even when he secured external funding, he still had to fight the school to get funds for his research. At Howard at that time there was not a genuine appreciation for developing the sciences, and given the way Just’s career was limited, it was more profitable for these men and a few women to train as doctors. Just did work to establish a Master’s degree in biology, but he knew the poor training people had before coming to Howard and the massive effort to teach them. He also had to fight for equipment. Just worked diligently to help his students, but they were all negotiating in a very racist environment. What was clear to me at this second reading, and in line with many contemporary discussions, is the way that White scientists and funders accepted the color line and wanted Just to work within it. It was his job to uplift his race and they did not fully understand that task was impossible in his circumstances. It was also too much to ask, that he not develop his full talent. Only in the late 1930s, does his mentor understand they way that racism warped Just’s life. We are still coming to grips with the meaning of racism in limiting people’s live in many respects. I think on my first reading, I was just overwhelmed by the science. On this reading, I could look for parallels in the social sciences, where new frameworks and perspectives were not appreciated. Members of new groups who came into the academy regained their status as marginal people. As a consequence, their thinking was not embraced and people suffered personally and professionals. Having faced my own battles, I can appreciate the few resources that Just struggled with. I came of age during a time when there was more open contestation of the traditions in the fields, but still faced paternalism and materialism and having my ideas dismissed because I was a Black woman. However, I had more success with external funding and worked at predominantly White institutions where there were clear guidelines about direct and indirect costs. Yet, I did see Dean who were barriers to Black people getting a decent deal. I also had colleagues, so I did not struggle alone. Yet, in this reading I could see the persistence of patterns of racism. Just’s life changes when he goes to Europe, where there is also marine biology and meets people who are move willing to accept him. He also has affairs and later in life finds love that is very supportive of his science and insist that he fight for himself. He has to address the rage he is entitled to, given the years of mistreatment by not just White people, but Black college administrators who used him. He is also able to integrated his knowledge and write a very important book. I am glad that I read it again and it helps me thinking about the gatekeeping that persists in higher education. I can also see that while I have had many struggles that time was on my side. The racism is still part of the landscape, but it is not as severe as what academics faced in early in the last century.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-08-04 00:00:00 Michael Mason Very interesting and informative subject matter, but I didn't think it was particularly well organized or written. After many chapters with biological information about people who in the end refused to give him money for research, we are just going to gloss over his internment in a Nazi concentration camp in about 5 sentences? It was generally chronological, but had some weird jumps. For example, the section right at the end giving the personal history of his main biological mentor, who had been a main character for twenty years and the entire book. Despite some difficulties with the organization and dry writing style, it was heartbreaking to read about how Just struggled to pursue his life passion of biological research in an era where there were simply no research jobs for black Americans. It was worthwhile to read a book about this subject matter, and I'm guessing this might be the only one, so I'm glad I read it.