Over the past 30 years, the number of deaf persons studying in colleges and universities has increased from several hundred to more than 12,000. Yet, attitudinal barriers continue to make it difficult for deaf people to enter some fields. This volume provides detailed biographical entries on 150 outstanding deaf individuals, highlighting their contributions to the arts and sciences. It includes several Nobel Prize laureate scientists, an Academy Award winning actress, poets, writers, world-class dancers, and a cadre of painters and sculptors. Some individuals are included for their...

Prior to the publication of this book, there has been a complete absence of literature on the contributions of deaf men and women in science. Written by a deaf scientist, this book is one of the few syntheses of the issues facing deaf people in a particular field of professional endeavor. Because of the highly invisible nature of deafness, much of the information presented by Lang will be new to readers. His research represents six years of archival search among the historical documents of the deaf communities of Europe, Canada, and the United States. The prominent role that deaf...

Edmund Booth was born in 1810 and died in 1905, and during the 94 years of his life, he epitomized virtually everything that characterized an American legend of that century. In his prime, Booth stood 6 feet, 3 inches tall, weighed in at 210 pounds, and wore a long, full beard. He taught school in Hartford, CT, then followed his wife-to-be Mary Ann Walworth west to Anamosa, Iowa, where in 1840, he built the area s first frame house. He pulled up stakes nine years later to travel the Overland Trail on his way to join the California Gold Rush. After he returned to Iowa in 1854, he became the...