DR. GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1944

An excellent and essentially readable portrait of a man who might have become a great musician or painter, but who chose instead to give his life to ""making something where there had been nothing."" The first half of this story of the great Negro scientist is beautifully handled: -- the appealing story of a frail child with his ""grower's hands"", the struggle for survival, driven by a consuming passion to learn, despite poverty, privation, mockery; and his answer to his friends' scepticism when his brilliant record at Iowa State gave him a place on the faculty. Two years later he went to Tuskegee, choosing to work among his people rather than achieve personal success. The last part of the book loses focus: -- do the authors mean to show Carver as a genius, as a religious fanatic, or as a philosopher, or merely as an eccentric scholar, clever, a bit egotistic, as -- alone in his laboratory -- he extracts almost a thousand useful articles from lowly peanuts and potatoes?

Pub Date: April 1, 1944

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Messner

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1944

Categories: NONFICTION