Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

Hidden Figures

by Margot Lee Shetterly

The Top 10 Sunday Times Bestseller

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE
Oscar Nominated For Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay

Set amid the civil rights movement, the never-before-told true story of NASA's African-American female mathematicians who played a crucial role in America's space program.

Before Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of professionals worked as 'Human Computers', calculating the flight paths that would enable these historic achievements. Among these were a coterie of bright, talented African-American women. Segregated from their white counterparts, these 'colored computers' used pencil and paper to write the equations that would launch rockets, and astronauts, into space.

Moving from World War II through NASA's golden age, touching on the civil rights era, the Space Race, the Cold War, and the women's rights movement, Hidden Figures interweaves a rich history of mankind's greatest adventure with the intimate stories of five courageous women whose work forever changed the world.

Reviewed by wcs53 on

5 of 5 stars

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After seeing the trailer for the movie of the same name, I knew I had to read this book. It took me longer to read than I thought it would, but that's because it is a book that can't be rushed. The book is a fairly in-depth look at the lives of four very remarkable African-American women who were heavily involved in the field of engineering and mathematics at NACA, which eventually became the NASA that we know today. Their story is a remarkable one that remained hidden for far too long. It's hard to measure the contribution they made to history and their stories deserve to be told and retold for many more years to come.

Although I knew much about the American race for space before reading this, I learned more in this book and saw what I had learned in a different light. The four women broke into a system of male dominance and segregation at a time when American society was still stuck in those systems. Their stories are very inspirational and it's great that they have finally seen the light of day. One of my favourite parts of reading this book was discovering that Martin Luther King Jr. was a Trekkie!

I still haven't seen the movie yet, but I intend to soon. For anyone interested in the history of the space race this book is a must-read, but it's more than about just that. It's a very inspirational read and one that I'd heartily recommend.

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  • Started reading
  • 31 May, 2017: Finished reading
  • 31 May, 2017: Reviewed