Few men present as magnificent a subject for American biography as George Washington Carver of Tuskegee. His genius, patient an pure, ranks him with the great men of the century, men who recognized kinship with them and admitted him to their distinguished circle and gave him their friendship: Edison, Ford, Wallace. George Washington Carver never stopped studying, never ceased learning. His profound knowledge of botany, agriculture, and soil economy enabled him to devise ways of helping the economically submerged South to better ways of living. This book automatically takes its place among the major books of all time—a great American biography.
Modest an unassuming, almost to the point of self-effacement, George Washington Carver was not content with mere scientific discovery for its own sake; he was passionately convinced that the results of research must be brought directly into the lives of the people. To this end he traveled through the South in the Jesup wagon, which was filled not alone with scientific exhibits of all kinds and with examples of aids to further better farming, but also with books. These excursions into the remote districts thus brought not only practical aids to a better life, but almost the first touch of culture the people had ever received.
Dr. Carver's positive contribution to science are legion and embrace many diverse fields of research. He has, for instance, developed over three hundred products from the peanut and has thus provided the South with an escape from her one-crop economy. During World War I he demonstrated to the Government that a sufficient and varied diet, balanced in proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, could be made up from the sweet potato and peanut alone.
In the course of his lifetime he was signally honored, not alone by the friendship and esteem of eminent men, but by learned societies and scientific and humanitarian bodies throughout the world. It is interesting to note that his first formal recognition came from the Royal Society of England when it elected him to a fellowship in 1916. In 1923 he was awarded the Spingarn Medal for distinguished service in agriculture chemistry; in 1939 he received the Roosevelt Medal for distinguished service in the field of science.
Born in slavery, he was kidnapped with his mother when he was but an infant, rescued and protected by his owner, a kindly German immigrant, who, within his slender means, made it possible for him to attend school and obtain books.
George Washington Carver was a splendid human being whose life was spent in the service of his fellow men.
His story is an epic of modern America.
—from the dust jacket
Did you find this review helpful?