Good, short little book for kids to expose them to the history of African American scientists and thereby encourage them to get into science themselves. It was written a few decades ago now, so the science itself is a little dated - the last chapter talks, in excited terms, about the wonder and development of floppy disks - but science more than almost any other field relies upon its history. That's how hypotheses are developed and tested! I have an interest in the history of science, so it was good to be exposed to the potted biographies of a number of scientists who are new to me. I've already started looking up information on at least one of them, George Washington Carver, to learn more.

I do think in some places, though, that this is a little dry for a children's book. There are a limited number of photographs, but I would have liked to see more diagrams, for instance, and more visual representations of some of the experiments described. Some kids learn lots by reading, and that's great, but some are more visual learners, and when encouraging kids to get interested in maybe being scientists themselves, it's more useful to cast a wider net, I think.

That being said, books like this are such valuable resources, and I'd love to see an updated version of it - one that includes more women in it, too, as Black Scientists only features one. Encouraging minority kids to get into science is just so enormously important...