By: Donald V. Watkins
Copyrighted and Published on October 19, 2020
As my readers know, I first wrote about the Navier-Stokes Equation in “Knowledge Fuels Success”, published on August 28, 2020. I further discussed this topic in “Breakthrough on the Navier-Stokes Equation”, published on September 24, 2020. My advanced math/physics team’s work on the Navier-Stokes Equation may change how white America views African-Americans at a time when our nation is deeply divided over the issue of systemic racism.
The Navier-Stokes Equation is one of the six unsolved math problems published by the Clay Mathematics Institute in Boston. In the Fall of 2019, I formed an advanced math/physics team to pick one of these six math problems and solve it. Our team consists of Johann Jordan from Orangeburg, South Carolina, Dr. Donatus O. Mbanefo from Columbus, Georgia, Isaac Culver from Macon, Georgia, and myself. All of us are African-Americans.
We selected the Navier-Stokes Equation because we deemed the phenomena defined in the math equation to involve applied physics more than advanced mathematics. Our team has extensive academic and applied research in advanced mathematics, physics, chemistry, electromagnetism, calculus, motion, heat, kinetic energy, process engineering, and information technology. We attacked the phenomena from a multidisciplinary approach.
Reference materials for the Navier-Stokes Equation were provided by my sister, Marie, who holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of California at Berkeley, and my sister, Doristine, who was a distinguished educator and middle school principal in Montgomery, Alabama.
Our work on Navier-Stokes began in November 2019. My team converted a small library at the Talladega Federal Prison Camp from a social hangout into a center for academic excellence. Math calculations had to be performed by hand or on small, low-capacity, handheld calculators that were used for GED classes. The more powerful HP-95 or greater calculators were deemed by prison officials as “contraband”. Teammate Johann Jordan transformed himself into a “human” computer like the black mathematicians showcased in the blockbuster movie, “Hidden Figures”. Jordan is a naturally gifted mathematical genius and a wonderful human being.
In May 2020, I was removed from the Camp and placed in the “Hole” at the Talladega medium security prison after a prison guard “planted” a cellphone charger in my dormitory cubicle. This was done to block my transfer to home confinement due to my age (72) and my risk of developing fatal complications from the contraction of COVID-19. I have been working on the Navier-Stokes Equation every day since May 12th.
I have organized all of my team’s technical data and work product on the equation. The task of writing our team’s formal presentation fell to me, as I have extensive experience in (a) preparing international patents for intellectual properties and (b) developing paradigm-shifting technologies, via sponsored research with Auburn University, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. My company’s technological development with Auburn is published in the Journal of Industrial Engineering.
Reshaping White America’s View of Black America
In the age of “Shut Up and Dribble”, I believe my team’s work on the Navier-Stokes Equation will demonstrate, once and for all, that African-Americans have the intellectual acumen and work ethic to achieve and demonstrate a level of knowledge in applied math and physics that is unparalleled globally. Scientists around the world have been trying to explain the phenomena defined in Navier-Stokes with precision and predictability for decades, without success. I believe my team has broken through the barriers to success and have identified credible scientific explanations for these phenomena.
Here is what I hope we can accomplish after our formal presentation is published and subjected to critical review by qualified third parties:
1. We can become eligible for a nomination for the Nobel Prize in physics. This is important to me personally because my brother, Levi, Jr., was nominated twice for the Nobel Prize in medicine for his pioneering work on the Automatic Implantable Defibrillator that is keeping 3 million hearts beating in rhythm today.
2. Because inmates in U.S. prisons are legally and technically designated as “slaves” under the express language of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, my teammates and I can become the first “slaves” to be nominated for the Nobel Prize in physics for work performed while we are held in the captivity of our designated slave master (i.e., the U.S. Bureau of Prisons).
3. While African-Americans, Ralph Bunch, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Barack Obama have won the Nobel Prize for Peace, no African-American has won a Nobel Prize in the scientific category.
4. We can become the first non-scientists to win the Nobel Prize for physics since Guglielmo Marconi won one in December 1909 for his wireless transatlantic telegraphy.
5. We can conclusively demonstrate to white America that “knowledge” knows no color and that it cannot be suppressed by modern-day slave masters.
6. We can give a pro-Western U.S. ally technical superiority in Naval warfare. We would be hard pressed to give our slave master this technologically superior information. After all, no slave ever willingly empowered his abusive master.
7. We can redefine Black America through the lens of intellectual prowess, rather than athleticism and musical ability.
8. We can undermine the ability of closet bigots in the Deep South to challenge the scientific achievements of Blacks.
9. We can inspire other imprisoned “slaves” to aspire to something that is greater than themselves.
10. We can leave a positive legacy for our families and all African-Americans.
Epilogue
Other than the Black athletes and entertainers who perform for them, white America really does not know Black America. The two worlds intersect in the most casual ways. We hope Navier-Stokes helps to change that paradigm.
The journey from modern-day “slave” to Nobel Prize winner would be one hell of a ride. We will make it happen for all of us.
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