Victor Lawrence
I do not blame you if you have no idea who Victor B. Lawrence is. Up until a couple of days ago, I had no idea either.
That was before I did this piece on his upcoming induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in the United States. There, he would join in the pantheon of such greats as Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison.
Why is Lawrence being honoured? He practically turned the internet into the ubiquitous, indispensable behemoth that we see today. Lawrence is credited as the inventor of signal processing in telecommunication, an invention that made the modern internet more efficient. He improved internet transmission, made high-speed connections more widely available and kick-started the spread of the web globally. We are not talking about someone unimportant, but a real, live hero.
Yet, the Ghanaian media has been mute on this upcoming affair. Lawrence was born here, grew up here, even schooled at Achimota- before moving to the place where he would have the resources to utilise his talent.
So he is not some expatriate whose only link to this country is that his parents come from here. And even if he were, there is such a dearth of scientific literacy in this country that every opportunity to show kids that science can be fun, and Ghanaians can excel at it- should be seized upon by this vibrant media we have that gets excited by the most unimportant things.
A google search for Victor Lawrence would give you some old articles about him, nothing on his recent achievement. Alternatively, Google Bollie and Reggie Zippy or Menn on Point- and check out the wealth of material practically screaming back at you.
- See more at: Ghanaian Born Inventor To Be Honoured Internationally And The Media Is Nowhere To Be Found- Its Not Like Practically Inventing The Internet Is More Important Than Bollie And Reggie Zippy - BrutallyUncensored.Com
