Thread by @royalsociety

Throughout this #BlackHistoryMonth, we'll be adding to the thread below and highlighting the achievements of the Black scientists, mathematicians and engineers who have made their impact on the modern world.

Physicist Edward Bouchet was the first African-American to earn a PhD from any American university, earning his doctorate from Yale in 1874. He was among the first 20 Americans to receive a PhD in physics. #BlackHistoryMonth bit.ly/3lCFSSF

Lewis Latimer worked with some of the greatest inventors of the modern era, including Thomas Edison & Alexander Graham Bell. Latimer invented a new form carbon filament which was essential to the invention of light bulbs. #BlackHistoryMonth bit.ly/3iLD8AM

Alice Ball developed a novel therapy for leprosy. She was the first woman and first African American to receive a master's degree from the University of Hawaii, and was the university's first female and African American chemistry professor. #BlackHistoryMonth #AdaLovelaceDay

Maggie-Aderin Pocock is a space scientist, researcher, and one of the UK's leading science educators, presenting the BBC's #SkyAtNight. Hear more about her life and career in our #InspiringScientists series. #AdaLovelaceDay
#BlackHistoryMonth

George Washington Carver was an agricultural scientist and one of the most prominent Black scientists of the early 20th century, working at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. You can see colour film of Carver in the @USNatArchives: #BlackHistoryMonth

@USNatArchives Katherine Johnson was a mathematician who calculated and analysed the flight paths of many spacecraft during her 30+ years with the U.S. space program. Her knowledge of mathematics was instrumental in the return of the Apollo astronauts from the Moon. #BlackHistoryMonth

@USNatArchives Dorothy Vaughan was a mathematician who worked at NASA, including on the programme that sent America’s first satellites into space, and taught herself and her staff the programming language Fortran in anticipation of the introduction of machine computers. #BlackHistoryMonth

@USNatArchives Mary Jackson was NASA's first black female engineer. She developed expertise working with wind tunnels and analysing data on aircraft flight experiments. After 30 years with NASA, she decided to become an equal opportunity specialist to help women & minorities. #BlackHistoryMonth