Africa’s Contributions in Science and Invention

By Cedric Michael Stroud

Africa has been called the “Dark Continent”, not only to allude to the color of the people who live there, but some Western historians do not give credit to Africans for any major contributions to the advancement of culture through science or invention. Careful research regarding this land and its people will not only show this view as false but will show Africa as the original source for much of civilization’s progress.

In his book, Ethiopia and the Origin of Civilization by John G. Jackson, Black Classic Press, 1939, the author builds a case of evidence for Africa as the foundation for the development of all other cultures. He cites the works of numerous scholars in the fields of archaeology, anthropology, history, and comparative religion to support this claim.

In modern times, Ethiopia is a country in the eastern region of Africa, but Jackson points out that “In ancient times Ethiopia extended over vast domains in both Africa and Asia”. He cites the work of Sir E. A. Wallis Budge, History of Ethiopia, Vol. 1: “It seems certain that classical historians and geographers called the whole region from India to Egypt, both countries inclusive, by the name of Ethiopia, and in consequence they regarded all the dark-skinned and black peoples who inhabited it as Ethiopians”. Budge also refers to the Greek historians Homer and Herodotus to support this view.

On page 2 of his book, Jackson quotes Count Volney, “Those piles of ruins which you see in that narrow valley watered by the Nile, are the remains of opulent cities, the pride of the ancient kingdom of Ethiopia…There a people, now forgotten, discovered while others were yet barbarians, the elements of the arts and sciences. A race of men now rejected from society for their sable skin and frizzle hair, founded on the study of the laws of nature, those civil and religious systems which still govern the universe.”

The debate rages on between historians as to the contributions of Africa and particularly of African people, but as more evidence is uncovered from archeological digs, including the discovery of ancient documents and artifacts, a clearer picture develops of what is the truth. To find more information, look for copies of The Journal of African Civilizations, Ivan Van Sertima, editor, Transaction Books, Rutgers University, as well as books and articles by various scholars such as Chiekh Anta Diop, Charles S. Finch, M.D., Dr. Asa G. Hilliard, and John Henrike Clarke.

Africans were brought to this country as enslaved labor primarily to work on the farm plantations, but they also brought with them the technical knowledge and skills that they had developed in their native land. In Africa, they studied the stars and used astronomy to help plan the planting of crops. Many Africans were skilled with iron-smelting and woodworking.

In South Carolina, for instance, Africans brought agricultural, boat-building, and navigational experience with them that enabled them to help make Charleston become a major city for shipping of goods. Many of the great architectural designs of homes that are still standing today throughout the Southern United States were built by the hands of persons of African descent, whether as enslaved or free.

Some cures for diseases were developed in the United States based on the knowledge shared by some enslaved Africans. Papan, for instance, was credited with showing his master that tobacco placed on a rattlesnake bite absorbs the poison. Onesimus showed his master, Cotton Mather of Boston, Massachusetts, the process for inoculation. Inoculation requires putting a small amount of the germs of a disease into the body to build up immunity to prevent the illness. The use of various herbs in maintaining good health was common among Africans.

Why is this history important? It is said that the past is the roadmap for the future. Whatever you have done before successfully, you may have confidence to do it again. Look at sports teams that continually win championships. Their competitors will talk about the champions’ “swagger”, that is, the confidence that makes it difficult to defeat them in a game.

Too many people are defeated in their minds before the game even starts, so losing becomes a habit, and it comes as no surprise. In fact, it becomes an expectation. How many times have you competed for something, but lost, then heard from someone you thought had been rooting for you, the following statement. “I knew you were going to lose!”

For many people of any race, it is difficult to imagine great, industrious African civilizations, but unfortunately, some Black people feel ashamed of the enslavement of their ancestors, so won’t acknowledge or research any of their history. Harriet Tubman, the great abolitionist who had been enslaved before escaping to the North, then returning to the South on numerous daring rescues of other enslaved persons, was quoted as saying, “I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves”.