Benjamin Banneker had notable accomplishments in his life. A few among the many would be his almanacs, the vital role he played in the construction of Washington D.C, and his correct prediction of a solar eclipse which proved many experts wrong. Benjamin Banneker was described as innovative as he was the first ever recognized African-American scientist, and was crucial in the development of American astronomy. In paragraph five it is said that, “In 1773, he began to make astronomical calculations for almanacs, which were used frequently by farmers. His almanacs included a variety of information on medicines, tides, and astronomy.” This quote shows that his almanacs were helpful and had useful information in them. I believe this is important because agriculture was the base of the economy in the 1700s, meaning that anything that helps farmers is beneficial to the economy. Some may argue that it isn’t that important because there are probably other almanacs that they could use. I disagree because he was known for disproving experts meaning his were probably more accurate then the almanacs already out there. …show more content…
In paragraph four it says “He learned so much that he accurately predicted a solar eclipse in 1789”. This prediction brought even more notoriety to him because it directly contradicted predictions made by well-known mathematicians and astronomers of the time.” This is relevant because if he never were to do something such as this he wouldn’t have had so much to show for his years spent studying astronomy. It is arguable that this isn’t relevant to the fact that predicting a solar eclipse doesn’t contribute a lot to society. I would have to disagree because he would never do this, he wouldn’t be as notable and he also wouldn’t be as trusted as the experts he proved wrong. This means that America would have had to wait longer to get this