who is this unforgettable Genius?

Percy Julian was one of the scientists who discovered great accomplishments but didn't get the credit he deserve for his accomplishment which impacted the world and others .

The early life of Percy Julian

His full name is Percy Lavon Julian, born in Montgomery, Alabama and he lived from 1899 to 1975.  Percy  was the eldest one out of 6 siblings. His mother Elizabeth Lena Julian, a teacher and his father was James Sumner Julian, a postal clerk.   He went to school through the 8th grade, but no schools allowed black people. He applied to DePauw University in Green Castle, Indiana, where he had to take high school level class in the evening time just to be in the same academic level as his peers. Then he went to the University of Vienna and Harvard University.    

The university of Vienna in 1900

Harvard University in 1900

The Depauw University

Montgomery, Alabama 

What was Julian's Field of Study ?

His field of study was physostigmine of glaucoma. Physostigmine is a drug and an active ingredient of the Calabar Bean and is used as a medicine in eye drops because of the activity of a drug that blocks the action of acetylcholine.  Glaucoma is a group of eye conditions that damage some's eyes and cause full blindness. The Calabar Bean is a tropical plant from Africa it can treat Glaucoma and other diseases. 

 Calabar Bean

Physostigime medicine to treat diseases like gluacoma.

Calabar bean originally come from Africa

what is Julian famous for?

African American chemist Percy Julian was a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs such as cortisone, steroids and birth control pills.  Percy Julian invented the Synthetic cortisone which is a drug that are used to treat a wide variety of disorders, including asthma, arthritis, skin conditions and autoimmune diseases. The drug mimics cortisol, a hormone that's naturally produced by the adrenal glands in healthy people. He later started his own company to synthesize steroid intermediates from the wild Mexican yam.

Cortisone

Steroids

Synthetic Cortisone

Birth Control

How did Julian accomplishments impact the world?

 Percy Julian cleverly figured out how to synthesize very important medicinal compounds from abundant plant sources, making them more affordable to mass-produce. In the 1930s chemists recognized the structural similarity of a large group of natural substances which are steroids. 

Julian was born and grew up in a time when African Americans faced extreme obstacles such as racism and false judgments just based off 

their skin of color. He wanted to help people and was fascinated with science/medicinal plants. He used plants such as the Calabar bean to make a medicinal drug to treat glaucoma, which is a disease that has a group of bad eye conditions coming together to cause full blindness.

The medicines he has made can give others a chance to be happy without any worry about what may happen to them. The studies the knowledge the world has is because of Julian’s accomplishments