The #1 New York Times bestseller
The phenomenal true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA whose calculations helped fuel some of America’s greatest achievements in space. Soon to be a major motion picture starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kirsten Dunst, and Kevin Costner.
Before John Glenn orbited the earth, or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of … the earth, or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known 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, some of the brightest minds of their generation. Originally relegated to teaching math in the South’s segregated public schools, they were called into service during the labor shortages of World War II, when America’s aeronautics industry was in dire need of anyone who had the right stuff. Suddenly, these overlooked math whizzes had a shot at jobs worthy of their skills, and they answered Uncle Sam’s call, moving to Hampton, Virginia and the fascinating, high-energy world of the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory.
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 Soviet 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 Figures follows 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 they faced challenges, forged alliances and used their intellect to change their own lives, and their country’s future.
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I loved getting to know the woman who were mathematical geniuses. It is an inspiring story and part of our history which we should know.
Very informative, but dry.
Go see the movie and skip the book. It is very dry.
The most amazing true stories, with characters that live on inside your head. Such an inspiring and beautiful book.
I had seen the movie but the book was so much deeper and richer. The hurdles these brave people were forced to jump through in order to reach their goals were staggering.
A wonderful mass biography of the black woman mathematicians of NASA Langley. A bit of a slow read, only because it is so thorough.
I wish American school taught how damn crucial these intelligent women where in the space race and to science as a whole!!
These women were and are awesome.
Very good
Overall very good expository on the first black women mathematicians at NASA’s predecessor and at NASA in its early years. Amazingly, the work location, Virginia, was strictly segregated at the time, but the worksite was to an encouraging extent partly integrated. Not liked was how the author explained the all-encompassing work ethic of the Africa Americans involved, and how it was a deliberate effort to advance their kind and their causes, not once, not twice, but perhaps twenty times throughout the book.
I am currently reading this book. Despite having regularly taught the history of digital computers (and being aware that “computers” used to refer to humans), I was not aware of this history from World War II and following years. An author’s note prepares the reader for the use of language which IS “discordant to … modern ears” but the language and the episodes are a reminder of another time. Are we returning to that America??
Additionally, I am learning some things about the mechanics of heavier-than-air flight mechanics that one doesn’t usually think about.
This is a must read (true story) for anyone interested in NASA & intelligent women.
Marvelous, simply awe-inspiring.
Let me preface this review by saying this book is a 5 based on the content matter. There were some interesting parts and I was enlightened on some really important historical facts for which I am grateful. However, it was very hard to read as it was dry and full of minute facts and details. My reading preference is fiction with lots of emotion, which this is far from. I think I will enjoy the movie more.
Loved learning about the women who were behind NASA and the organization that preceded it as human computers. It made me angry that I did not learn about them while I was in school.
This book was better than I expected. The hype does not do it justice. There is much more to it than just black women helping put a man in space. It actually starts with women in WWII, and not just black women. I liked how it tackles the Civil Rights issues, the struggles that blacks had in an all-white world, and how follows these woman throughout their lives and careers. I learned so much about research in aeronautics, and what it takes to improve airplanes to fly higher and faster.
While I have not seen the movie, I cannot imagine it captured the essence of these amazing, ground-breaking women who so helped to change our world and the world of women to come after them. I learned a lot from reading their stories, and I heartily recommend this well-written book to everyone.
A great view of a different time. It shows what you can do if you put your mind to it!
Clarified questions I had after seeing the movie twice. Thank God the book was written otherwise the world would not have known that the mathematical minds behind the space program were Black. It’s a shame that the American society has to be jolted to appreciate the truth and honor it.
I thought it was a good book and enjoyed learning about the contribution made by those intelligent women.