BENJAMIN BANNEKER 1731 1806 ASTRONOMER AND MATHEMATICIAN BANNEKER BENJAMIN 1731 1806 TECHNOLOGY AFRICAN AMERICANS AMERICAN CULTURE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY BENJAMIN BANNEKER WAS BORN ON A SMALL TOBACCO FARM NEAR BALTIMORE MARYLAND HE WAS EDUCATED BRIEFLY IN A NEARBY SCHOOL BUT TAUGHT HIMSELF LITERATURE HISTORY SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS AS AN ADULT BANNEKER WORKED PRIMARILY AS A FARMER BUT HE DEVOTED HIS SPARE TIME TO SCIENTIFIC STUDY AS HE GOT OLDER BANNEKER CONCENTRATED MORE ON RESEARCH IN 1789 HE BEGAN CALCULATING TABLES TO SHOW THE POSITIONS OF THE MOON PLANETS AND STARS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR THE FOLLOWING YEAR HE WAS HIRED BY THOMAS JEFFERSON TO ASSIST SURVEYORS IN LAYING OUT THE NEW DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA IN 1791 HE BEGAN TO COMPILE HIS ASTRONOMICAL AND TIDE CALCULATIONS INTO AN ALMANAC WHICH HE PUBLISHED OVER A 10 YEAR PERIOD FROM 1791 TO 1802
