What If The Pioneers We Ignored Never Persisted?

A single blue dot on your phone hides a lifetime of math. We pay tribute to Dr. Gladys West, the mathematician whose modeling of Earth made GPS accurate and reliable across oceans, cities, deserts, and runways. From humanitarian air drops to precision planting, from synchronized networks to safe flight paths, her work sits quietly beneath the tools we use all day—until it doesn’t. We connect that legacy to a broader lineage of Black innovators whose breakthroughs wired the modern world: Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson’s contributions to fiber optics that feed undersea Internet cables, Dr. James West’s electret microphone design inside our phones, Marian Croak’s VOIP advances that make Zoom and WhatsApp possible, and Jesse Russell’s leadership in cellular infrastructure that keeps towers humming.

Across the conversation, we ground big ideas in real stakes. What happens to disaster relief when coordinates drift by hundreds of meters? How do ships avoid collisions in storms, and planes thread crowded corridors? Why do farmers in Brazil and sub-Saharan Africa rely on centimeter-level guidance to boost yields and protect soil? We also pull back the curtain on GPS timing as the nervous system for digital banking, power grids, and data networks, showing how accuracy isn’t a luxury—it’s the backbone of a functioning planet.

We ask a hard question: where would the world be if these pioneers had given up? Innovation is cumulative, and gatekeeping costs everyone. Celebrating diversity is not a slogan; it is strategy for national strength and global progress. Join us to learn the names behind the everyday miracles, reflect on the resilience that carried them forward, and recommit to opening doors for the next wave of builders. If this story moved you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review telling us which innovation you’ll never take for granted again.

Chapters

• 0:00 Opening And The Big Question
• 0:31 Introducing Dr. Gladys West
• 3:39 Modeling Earth And GPS Explained
• 5:28 Humanitarian And Agriculture Impacts
• 6:52 Aviation, Shipping, Space, And Defense
• 8:42 Mobile Leapfrogging And Entrepreneurship
• 10:12 Other Black Innovators In Tech
• 13:26 Imagine A World Without Their Work
• 15:55 Diversity, Legacy, And Closing Tribute

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:03

Hello everyone, this is Dr. Ayolo Fade, the host of Steam Spark Think Steam Career Podcast. I'm here again this evening, still honoring the person of Dr. Lydis West. I have a quiz for you. So let me start with this. It is a global utility. This technology is not just useful here in the United States, but it is useful all over the globe. What is it? I pause for a few seconds because as an educator, the best practice is just to wait for a few seconds, give my students a chance to think through the question, to collaborate, to talk about the question if possible. And then we start having a dialogue. Recently, a giant in our community passed on to Grace. Actually walked this earth. So for us to be alive at the same time that an individual that is so phenomenal, that is so incredibly gifted, and for someone that is gifted to a point whereby they light the world, they're like a lamp, like a light that is placed on top of a mountain that is a light to those of us that are in the valley. For us to be alive when they are alive is just such a is like I can almost pinch myself. I've never met her, but I know of her work because I'm a scientist just like she is, a different type of scientist. She's a mathematician. I'm a biotechnologist. It's really incredible to read about her, to know about her, to also know about the significance of her work. So this is the reason why I'm taking the time to celebrate and to honor this wonderful lady. The mat that I'm now talking about, Dr. Gladys West. The mat that Dr. Gladys West performed in Virginia is now the invisible pulse of the entire planet. Because she modeled the Earth's shape so accurately, the system worked everywhere, from the middle of the Pacific Ocean to the most remote village in the Indies. When you consider and look at the scale of it, what she did, what she helped create, it is a global information infrastructure. The significance of what she did, it's like she helped gave the world a lifeline. The impact of her work outside the US is very transformative. What do I mean by that? Let's talk about humanitarian aid and disaster relief. When a tsunami or an earthquake hits a region where all local landmark and road sign have been wiped out, aid workers use GPS to drop supplies and navigate. Without Dr. West, those coordinates could be off by hundreds of meters, potentially landing food or medicine in area far away from those that really need it. Maybe in the sea, maybe in the jungle where people cannot really access it. Now let's talk about precision agriculture in developing nations. Farmers in places like in Brazil, sub-Saharan Africa use GPS guided tractors and drones to plant seed and apply fertilizer with centimeters level precision. This precision increases all the application of these GPS to precisely seed, plant seed, increase food yield, and protects the environment. What about in terms of aviation? And global shipping. Every international flight and every massive container ship crossing Atlantic Ocean or maybe Indian Ocean uses the same mathematics to ensure they don't collide and that they find their destination through forks and storm. We all know about SpaceX. I mean the technology that the incredible work that we see Elon Marks and his company is doing with SpaceX, I wonder how easy it will have been. Not to say that all of these things will not have been possible, but the foundation that she helped laid made a lot of these things possible. What about in defense? In defense, in military defense, our pilots, how will they have managed coordinated attack? That will have been really difficult. What about in terms of space exploration? Now we're planning, at least as far as I know, the United States is looking forward to putting boots on the moon and possibly put boots on mass. So her work connected the unconnected. That is the beauty of what she has done. And she's a woman. And she's a colored woman, she's a black woman. I often said, stop underestimating women. If women are given opportunities, imagine what women can do or what women will do. They will make this world of ours a much, much better place. In many parts of the world, people skip the landline to mobile phones. I know this very well, especially in Africa. They love their mobile phones. Because of Dr. Wet's work, a small-scale entrepreneur in Nairobi, for example, or a fisherman in Southeast Asia can use a smartphone to track weather patterns, find bias for their goods, and use digital banking, all of which require precise time stamping and location data that GPS provides. But Dr. West is not the only individual of color who has done wonders for our world. There are others also. While Dr. West provided the map, other black innovators built the road and vehicle for a global for this global digital age that we all live in. So let me give some example. Dr. Shelley Jackson. What's her contribution? Her contribution is in research in fiber optics. What is the global impact? Remember that cable that we put underwater? The underwater cable that carries internets across the ocean. Her work led the foundation to that. And she's the black woman, a colored woman. What about James West, Dr. James West? What's his contribution? Electric microphone. What is the global impact? It is used in 90% of all microforms globally, including your phone. Did you know that? Another person is Marian Croc. Think about the voice over IP. I'm using Zoom to do this recording. Without her work, this would not have been possible. Right? For many, that depends on WhatsApp calls and Skype. It is her work that laid the foundation to such technology. What about Jesse Russell? What is his contribution? What is the global impact? Imagine your phone without the mobile phone tower. The mobile phone towers help connect the world. This is some few blacks or people of color who have laid the foundation to some of the things that we take for granted in terms of digital technology. It is a striking thought though. Imagine if you remove the contribution of few of these individuals. Imagine if Dr. West was never born. Or imagine if she was not resilient enough despite of all of our experience. She gave up. Or imagine if Dr. Shelley Jackson also gave up because of her experience. Or James West gave up. Imagine if Marianne Crook gave up. Imagine if Jesse Russell gave up. Imagine if all the barriers that were laid in front of them impede their progress. Where will the world be? Want to celebrate Doctor West and show or highlight the importance of what she has done and the importance of the contributions of many giants from the community of colored their contribution to our world, despite the challenges that they face. If we remove the contribution of these few individuals, the modern global economy will essentially go dark. The world depends on the brilliance of people who were often marginalized by the very society they were trying to advance. And even right now, as we speak, one of the greatest benefits that the United States of America has is our diversity. We need to celebrate our diversity. No other place in the world is like the United States of America. The diversity of mind, the contribution of different background to our society, to our economy is a saving grace. So this week, as we go about our business, let us remember Dr. West. Let us keep her family in prayers, her family and friends in prayers. Let us cherish the colored people that are in our community. God put us all together for a reason. And we all have something to contribute. But we need to encourage one another, support one another, not tear each other down. We need to also remember that we stand on the shoulder of giants. And as we stand on the shoulders of giants, we also have to continue to keep the lamp lit up. So that the next generation can also stand on our shoulders and the brilliance of our nation shines. May the legacy of Dr. Gladys West be memorable. Thank you everyone for listening to me. Have a good night.