Charleston County Public Library

Hidden figures, the untold true story of four African-American women who helped launch our nation into space, Margot Lee Shetterly

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

collective biography

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Hidden figures

bibliography

964450826

Margot Lee Shetterly

the untold true story of four African-American women who helped launch our nation into space

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. Drawing on the oral histories of scores of these "computers, " personal recollections, interviews with NASA executives and engineers, archival documents, correspondence, and reporting from the era, Hidden Figures recalls America's greatest adventure and NASA's groundbreaking successes through the experiences of five courageous, intelligent, determined, and patriotic women

Setting the scene -- A door opens -- Mobilization -- A new beginning -- The double V -- The "colored" computers -- War birds -- The duration -- Breaking barriers -- No limits -- The area rule -- An exceptional mind -- Turbulence -- Progress -- Young, gifted, and black -- What a difference a day makes -- Writing the textbook on space -- With all deliberate speed -- Model behavior -- Degrees of freedom -- Out of the past, the future -- America is for everybody -- One small step -- Timeline