George Washington Carver by John Perry

I was attracted to this book, George Washington Carver by John Perry, because it contains many of my interests: science, religion, history, and determination.  It is about George Washington Carver, better known in scientific arenas as the “peanut man.” Born the son of a slave woman on a plantation, he became a slave himself.  From a young age Carver was very close to nature and in nature he saw God.  He grew up in a turbulent time where African Americans were discriminated against, but doors always opened for him to follow his dreams.  Carver was a very talented young man, succeeding in science and art. 

This book is written in a documentary format following Carver’s life from the plantation to Tuskegee where he finally settled down to work on his research.  Carver was known for giving hope to struggling African Americans fresh from the plantation.  He turned ordinary sweet potatoes and peanuts into everything from milk to rope. He found 265 uses for peanuts, 118 for sweet potatoes, and 85 for pecans.  All the while, he was rubbing shoulders with great men like Thomas Edison, Booker T. Washington, Henry Ford, and President Roosevelt. 

From the beginning, I could picture this story as a documentary movie being narrated by a man with a deep voice.  This book paints an accurate image of the types of discrimination and problems encountered by an aspiring black man in the south in the early 1900’s.  If you want a book about a real man overcoming insurmountable odds, then this is the book for you. 

You can buy this book here.