minor wording changes

Signed-off-by: Chad Dougherty <[email protected]>

Author: crd477

_posts/2025-02-01-black-history-spotlight-charles-turner.md

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 Recently, while reading Lars Chittka's 2022 book, [_The Mind of a Bee_](https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691180472/the-mind-of-a-bee), I became intrigued by the story of zoologist [Charles Henry Turner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Henry_Turner_(zoologist)).  In recognition of Black History Month (and coincidentally Turner's birthday), I'd like to share a short summary of what I learned about this outstanding Black American scientist.
 
-Charles Henry Turner was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1867, just two years after the end of the US Civil War.  Turner excelled in school and was valedictorian of his graduating class at Woodard High School.  He earned a B.S. in Biology from the University of Cincinnati in 1891 and then went on to become the first African American to earn a graduate degree from that same University when he earned his M.S. in Biology in 1892.  In 1907, he earned his Ph.D. in Zoology, _magna cum laude_, likely being the first African American to earn a doctorate from the University of Chicago and certainly among only a tiny handful of Black people to have done so anywhere in the US at that time.[^nih]
+Charles Henry Turner was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1867, just two years after the end of the Civil War.  Turner excelled in school and was valedictorian of his graduating class at Woodard High School.  He earned a B.S. in Biology from the University of Cincinnati in 1891 and then went on to become the first African American to earn a graduate degree from that same University when he earned his M.S. in Biology in 1892.  In 1907, he earned his Ph.D. in Zoology, _magna cum laude_, likely being the first African American to earn a doctorate from the University of Chicago and certainly among only a tiny handful of Black people to have done so anywhere in the United States at that time.[^nih]
 
 After receiving his doctorate, Turner faced problems finding a job in academia.  He was considered for a professorship at the University of Chicago, but the professor who invited him to apply died and, according to sociologist and civil rights activist W. E. B. Du Bois, his replacement refused to hire a Black scientist.[^knowable]  At the Tuskegee Institute, Turner was turned down because president Booker T. Washington reportedly could not afford to pay the salaries of both Turner and another famous Black American scientist, George Washington Carver.[^okstate]  Turner consequently worked as a high school teacher for the remainder of his career, spending most of it at Sumner High School in St. Louis, Missouri.  He continued to pursue his research and publication throughout his career, even while teaching high school.  I was amazed to learn that Turner used bees as teaching tools to demonstrate principles of complex behavior even in his high school biology classes.  One of my favorite notes suggesting his effectiveness in this regard comes from one of his students:[^okstate]
 >"The bees appeared at the table at all three meals. Then Dr. Turner put jam only at breakfast daily. They still came to each meal but found no jam at noon and night. Soon they stopped coming. This shows they have some idea of time."
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ In addition to his scientific work, Turner also wrote on the social and educatio
 
 The philosophy of animal intelligence and cognition has a long and complex history, stretching back to the time of Aristotle, with varying levels of acceptance of the idea that animals can be considered autonomous, sentient beings.[^nautilus]  Recent research has provided new physical evidence supporting the arguments that many animals (and certainly a far wider range of species than we have ever even considered before) are indeed sentient, and have individual personalities and cognitive capabilities traditionally attributed only to humans and our immediate relatives.[^quanta][^psychtoday]  Indeed, many of the scientists involved in these research efforts have cited Turner's work as pioneering.[^knowable]
 
-Sadly, Turner died in 1923 at the relatively young age of 56 from an acute case of myocarditis which could've been exacerbated by his heavy teaching workload and relatively low pay.  I cannot help but wonder how much more impact he could have had on the state of science education, and particularly Black science education, and the burgeoning field of animal cognition if he had lived longer and been able to continue his work.
+Sadly, Turner died in 1923 at the relatively young age of 56 from an acute case of myocarditis which could've been exacerbated by his heavy teaching workload and relatively low pay.  I cannot help but wonder how much more impact he could have had on the state of science education, particularly Black science education, and the burgeoning field of animal cognition if he had lived longer and been able to continue his work.
 
 ### References