History tells us that pioneers settled the American West. But history also tells us that people as different as John Glenn, Rosa Parks, and Christiaan Barnard are pioneers. So what, exactly, is a pioneer?
One dictionary says a pioneer is someone who opens a new area of research. It’s also someone who gives others a chance. So John Glenn is a U.S. space pioneer. Because he was the first American to orbit Earth. Rosa Parks is a human-rights pioneer. That’s because she wouldn’t give up her seat on a public bus in 1955. And this helped start the fight for equal treatment of African Americans. Dr. Christiaan Barnard is a pioneer in medicine. Because he was the first person to transplant a human heart.
