Infinite Powers: The Story of Calculus - The Language of the Universe

by Steven H. Strogatz

Katherine Johnson was a computer for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration at a time when computers were women, not machines. She was there near the start, when she helped Alan Shepard become the first American in space, and she was there near the end, when she worked on the trajectory for the first moon landing. For decades, her work was unknown to the public. Thankfully, her pioneering contributions (and her inspiring life story) have now been recognized. In 2015, at age ninety-seven, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama. A year later, NASA named a building after her. At the dedication ceremony, the NASA official reminded the audience that “millions of people around the world watched [Alan] Shepard’s flight, but what they didn’t know at the time was that the calculations that got him into space and safely home were done by today’s guest of honor, Katherine Johnson.”