White males

Wow. Mr. Stroyan’s myopic view of history (Letters to the Editor, July 9) probably doesn’t deserve refutation, but I’m compelled.

Electricity was not “invented” by a white male – it is a feature of the natural world. Anyway, a 2,000-year-old battery was discovered in Baghdad in 1938 – probably not invented by a “white male.” The carbon filament used by Edison was invented by Lewis Latimer, an African American.

Farm equipment? The cotton gin was patented by Eli Whitney, but invented by African slaves and a woman, Catherine Greene.

Computers? Madam Ada Lovelace was the world’s first programmer. Mary Allen Wilkes, a software pioneer – not a white male. The entire programming team for the ENIAC was female. U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Grace Hopper developed the first software compiler.

Mr. Stroyan is apparently unaware of contributions by the following non-white and/or female inventors: air conditioning by F.M. Jones; color computer monitor and Gigahertz chip by Mark Dean; home security system by Mary Van Brittan Brown; 3-element traffic light by Garret Morgan; automatic elevator doors by Alexander Miles; Electret microphone by James E. West; dry cleaning by Thomas L. Jennings (first patent to a Black person); laser cataract surgery by Dr. Patricia Bath; lawn sprinklers by Elijah McCoy (“the real McCoy”); natural gas forced air central heating by Alice H. Parker; and so on.

Mr. Stroyan: today’s comfortable life was won for us by countless American citizens, of all genders and skin colors – including our Native American, African and immigrant ancestors; it is not the sole contribution of white males.

Bill Fassett

Spokane