"This book links African American inventors with a continuing tradition of African inventiveness dating back to prehistoric times. The book presents a separate chapter with patent drawings on black women inventors in the United States."

** "Bookstore browsers who bypass this title for whatever reason will miss an excellent opportunity to gain full knowledge of the inventiveness of humankind from ancient to modern times...Gibbs actually has exquisitely woven together several important topics, each of which is key to a complete understanding of the context of the book. The topics are: human evolution, the technological development of civilization, the sociological context into which African American inventors found themselves thrust, and the legal and political milieu which alternately helped and hindered black inventors over time...Gibbs' objective work provides a framework over which can be stretched an incredible rich fabric of African American ingenuity and invention...it is an empirical study of the foundation of the development and uses of technology and human culture. Its focus on the position of Africans and African Americans fills out what has previously been incomplete work in this area of study..."