[EVF]∎ [PDF] Hidden Figures The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race Margot Lee Shetterly 9780062363602 Books

Hidden Figures The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race Margot Lee Shetterly 9780062363602 Books

Download As PDF : Hidden Figures The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race Margot Lee Shetterly 9780062363602 Books

Hidden Figures The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race Margot Lee Shetterly 9780062363602 Books

My comments are somewhat bias since Katherine Johnson is my aunt. I have seen the movie twice and read the book. My preference is the book mostly because of the additional information provided about Aunt Katherine. Many movie goers who only see the movie will miss out on a number of opportunities to see more realistically Aunt Katherine's nature, attitudes, and life's perspectives on work, family, and race. The movie is done very well and I commend all those involved in its production including the talented stars. It is a case of getting one slice of pie when you could get two slices. I suggest you eat WELL! ATBroady


Tags : Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race [Margot Lee Shetterly] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <em>The #1 New York Times bestseller</em> <em>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 </em><em>Taraji P. Henson,Margot Lee Shetterly,Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race,William Morrow Paperbacks,0062363603,Ethnic Studies - African American Studies,Space Science,United States - 20th Century,African American mathematicians,African American mathematicians;Biography.,African American women,African American women;Biography.,Biographies,Space race,United States - Officials and employees,Women mathematicians - United States,Women mathematicians;United States;Biography.,Biography & AutobiographyCultural, Ethnic & Regional - General,Biography & AutobiographyScience & Technology,Biography & AutobiographyWomen,Ethnic Studies - African American Studies,Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General,GENERAL,General Adult,HISTORY African American,HISTORY United States 20th Century,History,History - U.S.,HistoryAmerican,HistoryUnited States - 20th Century,HistoryWomen,History: American,MathematicsHistory & Philosophy,Non-Fiction,Pictorial treatment,SCIENCE Space Science,SOCIAL SCIENCE Ethnic Studies African American Studies,SPACE EXPLORATION,Space Science,Space race,Technology & EngineeringAeronautics & Astronautics,Technology & EngineeringHistory,United States,United States - 20th Century,United States - Officials and employees,WOMEN - 20TH CENTURY HISTORY,Women mathematicians - United States,Women mathematicians;United States;Biography.,confidence builder; computing machines; space program; inspiring story; soviet union; gre; darden; sallies; fireballs; aeronautical; entre; grads; negroes; discriminated; bathrooms; langley; hampton; likelihood; co-author; edelweiss; launches; segregation; blacks; engineering; virginia; united states; america; nasa mathematics math history mathematical; woman black african-american unique women jewish; professional world mathematicians; report research center,Biography & AutobiographyCultural, Ethnic & Regional - General,Biography & AutobiographyScience & Technology,Biography & AutobiographyWomen,Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General,HISTORY African American,HISTORY United States 20th Century,HistoryUnited States - 20th Century,HistoryWomen,MathematicsHistory & Philosophy,SCIENCE Space Science,SOCIAL SCIENCE Ethnic Studies African American Studies,Technology & EngineeringAeronautics & Astronautics,Technology & EngineeringHistory,History - U.S.,Space Exploration,History,History: American

Hidden Figures The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race Margot Lee Shetterly 9780062363602 Books Reviews

Hidden Figures has garnered much attention for being the heretofore forgotten story of the African-American women who helped build NASA (or to be more exact, the NASA field center at Langley). The media has boiled the tale of these women down to the oft-used cliche "heroes"; Shetterley's narrative digs beyond that.

Sure, Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, et al are amazing, inspiring, and strong, but their own modesty over their roles in NACA/NASA history is telling like many black pioneers of the Jim Crow era, they didn't step up for the attention or accolades. They stepped up to be "the first" in order to pave the way for those who would come behind them.

Shetterley deftly reveals these cross-generational ties at Langley, as well as how for African-Americans, the professional is often the personal when it came to representation and community. The portions of the book that were the most fascinating to me were those pertaining to the links forged by the black community in the Southern Virginia area, and how they intersected with employment and residency in Hampton as the 20th century progressed.

Shetterley's prose shined the best on the minutia of the women's lives, but the parts about NACA/NASA were just as interesting--and Shetterley's explanations of the mathematics and aeronautics is masterful. It was never pedantic, yet never overly simplified. As I reached the end, I was disappointed there weren't more pages, but also even hungrier for more stories about the intersection of race, gender, and science!

Get this book! It is an excellent companion to Nathalia Holt's Rise of the Rocket Girls and Lily Koppel's The Astronaut Wives Club, for a comparison of the different experiences of women in the Space Race.
I saw the movie before I read the book, and I am honestly not sure whether that was a good or bad thing. I loved the movie, and I loved the book, but they are very different.

Generally, the book is a very fast-paced and interesting read about the black women who worked at the Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia, and their many and varied contributions to the field of aeronautical and astronautical research. It is part biography, part history of NASA, part history of segregation, part history of the civil rights movement, part history of the Virginia peninsula, and part history of women's rights. It is absolutely fascinating.

That being said, the book is very different from the movie, so don't go into it expecting them to be the same. The movie is deeply touching, but it is actually fairly inaccurate, and it has been pretty aggressively whitewashed (see re the Kevin Costner character). I think it is good to both see the movie and read the book, because one of the critical differences, and the difference that I think is missed entirely by the movie (to its great detriment) is the way in which issues of segregation were actually tackled at Langley. The movie makes it appear that enlightened white men of power were responsible for Langley's integration, when in fact the integration of Langley was almost entirely borne organically and of necessity. The book does a good job of explaining this, whereas that aspect of the movie is almost entirely fictionalized. I thought the movie took away some of the women's victories in this area (Katherine Johnson, for example, never went to the "colored" bathroom. She just used the regular, unlabeled bathroom, and no one ever told her not to), but the book gives the women more credit for their small yet trailblazing acts of defiance.

One other note the book actually covers quite a bit of complex scientific detail, but it is entirely readable to the layperson.

I highly, highly recommend this book.
My comments are somewhat bias since Katherine Johnson is my aunt. I have seen the movie twice and read the book. My preference is the book mostly because of the additional information provided about Aunt Katherine. Many movie goers who only see the movie will miss out on a number of opportunities to see more realistically Aunt Katherine's nature, attitudes, and life's perspectives on work, family, and race. The movie is done very well and I commend all those involved in its production including the talented stars. It is a case of getting one slice of pie when you could get two slices. I suggest you eat WELL! ATBroady