Hidden Figures
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Hidden Figures
By Margot LeeShetterly
Edition: audiobook, 2016
Synopsis: Before John Glenn orbited the earth, or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians know as “human computers” used pencils, slide rules, and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets, and astronauts, into space.
Among these problem-solvers were a group of exceptionally talented African American women. Originally math teachers in the South’s segregated public schools, these gifted professionals answered Uncle Sam’s call during the labour shortages of World War II. With new jobs at the fascinating, high-energy world of the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory in Hampton, Virginia, they finally had a shot at jobs that would push their skills to the limits.
Even as Virginia’s Jim Crow laws required them to be segregated from their white counterparts, the women of Langley’s all-black “West Computing” group helped America achieve one of the things it desired most: a decisive victory over the Societ Union in the Cold War, and complete domination of the heavens.
Starting in World War II and moving through to the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement and the Space Race, Hidden Figuresfollows the interwoven accounts of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden – four African American women who participated in some of NASA’s greatest successes. It chronicles their careers over nearly three decades as they faced challenges, forged alliances, and used their intellect to change their own lives, and their country’s future.
Ever since I first saw the film based on this book, I have wanted to know what was fact and fiction. Listening to the audiobook version was enlightening to say the least. The book sheds light on a multitude of African Amercian women who worked in the field of mathematics.
I’ll be the first to admit that math and science are not my favorite subjects. Still, I found the subject of this book gripping from start to finish.
For readers (or listeners) who are looking for a true to life, I would highly recommend this in any format.
