Hidden figures

English language

Published May 11, 2016 by William Collins.

ISBN:
9780008201289
OCLC Number:
946159911

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4 stars (1 review)

"Before 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.

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 …

25 editions

Subjects

  • Biography
  • Officials and employees
  • Women mathematicians
  • African American mathematicians
  • Mathematicians
  • Space race
  • Employees
  • United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • United States

Places

  • United States