Hidden figures : the American dream and the untold story of the Black women mathematicians who helped win the space race

Summary: "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 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"--Publisher's description.

Item details

ISBN: 9780062363596
ISBN: 006236359X
ISBN: 9780062363602
ISBN: 0062363603
ISBN: 9780062363619
Physical Description: print
xviii, 346 pages ; 24 cm
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: New York, NY : William Morrow, [2016]
Copyright: ©2016
Badges:
- Top Circs: 4 / 5.0
- Most Copies: 4 / 5.0

Contents / Notes

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 319-328) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	A door opens -- Mobilization -- Past is prologue -- The double V -- Manifest destiny -- War birds -- The duration -- Those who move forward -- Breaking barriers -- Home by the sea -- The area rule -- Serendipity -- Turbulence -- Angle of attack -- Young, gifted, and black -- What a difference a day makes -- Outer space -- With all deliberate speed -- Model behavior -- Degrees of freedom -- Out of the past, the future -- America is for everybody -- To boldly go.
Awards Note:	New York Times Best Seller List. ALA Black Caucus Award, 2017 (Nonfiction) Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, 2017 Nonfiction

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United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration Officials and employees Biography
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