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The excitement of the space program and the rapid advances of the time jumped off the page and hammered home the powerful impact these ladies had. The work of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden, at a time when women and minorities were not treated equally, nor given the credit they so obviously deserved, is a testament to what can happen if you forge through barriers, focus on your goals, and meet challenges with determination, grace and dignity. It wouldn’t have mattered when or where I happened along this book, I would have loved it!!īut, with so many core values at stake in our immediate future, with the contributions of the best and the brightest on the line, this story reminds us of why we need maths and science, and how much we can accomplish if we all work together as people, with a common goal in mind.

Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly is a 2016 William Morrow publication. Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly It chronicles their careers over nearly three decades as they faced challenges, forged alliances, and used their intellects to change their own lives - and their country's future 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. Suddenly these overlooked math whizzes had shots 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.Įven 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. 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. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kirsten Dunst, and Kevin Costner.īefore John Glenn orbited 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.Īmong these problem solvers were a group of exceptionally talented African American women, some of the brightest minds of their generation. Soon to be a major motion picture starring Taraji P.

But Hidden Figures promises to be worth the wait.The phenomenal true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA whose calculations helped fuel some of America's greatest achievements in space. The breadth of her well-documented research is immense, and her narrative compels on every level." Booklist starred review "Exploring the intimate relationships among blackness, womanhood, and 20th-century American technological development, Shetterly crafts a narrative that is crucial to understanding subsequent movements for civil rights." Publishers Weekly starred review "It was hard enough to be a woman in the industry at that time, but the black women who worked at Langley also had to be strong, sharp, and sufficiently self-possessed to be able to question their superiors-and that is just what they did.their story is inspiring and enlightening." Kirkus "Okay, so you'll have to bookmark this for Labor Day weekend. "Shetterly’s highly recommended work offers up a crucial history that had previously and unforgivably been lost." Library Journal starred review "This is an incredibly powerful and complex story, and Shetterly has it down cold.