Percy Julian, Chemist and Pioneer

Nova, the PBS science program, had a wonderful show on Percy Julian, Ph.D., a great chemist whose life in the early 20th century demonstrated the best in human nature and some of the worst in American racism.
The highs and lows are dramatic and extreme: a childhood revelry in nature ended with him encountering the victim of a lynching. He was denied a high school education because he is an African American but his teacher parents kept him learning. With a 10th grade education, he enrolled as a subfreshman at DePauw and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and top of his class. Then his grandmother showed him her scars from slavery. He went to Vienna to pursue his doctorate; both his science and social life flowered. Upon his return to America, racism was exploited by colleagues and competitors who wanted to hurt him.
In addition to a few merely important molecules, this man synthesized progesterone and cortisone. PROGESTERONE and CORTISONE, two of the most important drugs in the 20th century! These syntheses are landmarks in organic chemistry and pharmacology. Progesterone is key to birth control pills and cortisone is a very important anti-inflammatory. Why is Percy Julian's name not well known? Thank you, Nova and PBS, for this wonderful show about an impressive human being.