Every time I learn about the achievements of past
generations of women, I'm humbled. This lovely book HIDDEN
WOMEN: THE AFRICAN - AMERICAN MATHEMATHICIANS OF NASA WHO
HELPED AMERICA WIN THE SPACE RACE is one such
demonstration. We begin by meeting a human computer, when
IBM computers were new, and the mathematics required to
calculate orbits and re-entries was being developed. John
Glenn was about to orbit the world - if the math
calculations were correct. He asked for NASA's top lady
computer to recalculate, trusting her more than the new
machine. But nobody has heard of Katherine Johnson. She was
just one of the very many women, white or black, who did
such work, while men were engineers and pilots.
NASA and its predecessor NACA paid well, we see, by
comparison with teaching or other available choices.
Katherine Johnson had graduated from West Virginia State
College aged 18, and married and had children before
settling to a teacher's life - then NASA advertised for
women with her kind of talent. Married women with children
were accepted, a very progressive move. By doing this work,
women got respect, if not public recognition. In 1960
Katherine became the first woman to publish a paper at
Langley's Aerospace Mechanics Division. But the tale
broadens to explain the segregation and civil rights issues
prevalent at the time. Even at a research facility, life
was not perfect.
We also meet Miriam Mann, helping to develop the math
needed to orbit the moon, land, launch, rendezvous with an
orbiting vessel, and return to earth. I found it almost
amusing that as an African-American applicant, Miriam was
required to take a chemistry course, while white women were
not - Miriam already had a chemistry degree. She also
wasn't allowed to live on the campus, and faced a sign in
the cafeteria telling her where she was to sit.
Mary Jackson was unusual even among this group, by being
NASA's first black female engineer. She conducted wind
tunnel tests on the Apollo space capsule. And Dorothy
Vaughan, a manager, wisely trained herself to operate IBMs
(still at the punchcard stage). As the mission continues
we see excellent photos of the space race, the heroes and
unknown heroines. Today, we are told, NASA employs 22%
female engineers, while nationally the average is 11%
female engineers, and NASA, which has now had female
astronauts, also has a policy of being an inclusive
employer. I have to think that this is in no small part due
to the pioneers and excellent role models, the HIDDEN
WOMEN. Rebecca Rissman has done a great job of presenting
this account in terms that a high school teen will
understand, educating them about the space race, Cold War
tensions, early computers and much that we all now take for
granted. Rebecca Rissman lives in Chicago and has written
many non-fiction books, especially about American history
and women's lives. She has certainly educated me with
HIDDEN WOMEN.
Tells the gripping story of four female African-American mathematicians who literally made it possible to launch US rockets--and astronauts--into space. Tells the thrilling tale of how each woman contributed, the struggles and resistance each experienced, and the amazing results. Consultants currently work for NASA.
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