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    Hidden Women: The African-American Mathematicians of NASA Who Helped America Win the Space Race
    Hidden Women: The African-American Mathematicians of NASA Who Helped America Win the Space Race
    Hidden Women: The African-American Mathematicians of NASA Who Helped America Win the Space Race
    Ebook101 pages52 minutes

    Hidden Women: The African-American Mathematicians of NASA Who Helped America Win the Space Race

    By Rebecca Rissman

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    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 works for NASA.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCapstone Young Readers
    Release dateFeb 1, 2018
    ISBN9781515799610
    Hidden Women: The African-American Mathematicians of NASA Who Helped America Win the Space Race
    Author

    Rebecca Rissman

    Rebecca Rissman has written more than 200 children's books about history, culture, science, and art. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and daughter, and enjoys hiking, yoga, and cooking.

    Read more from Rebecca Rissman

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    • 4/5
      As NASA raced to the moon, a number of African-American women played key roles throughout the process. This is a middle grade book that details the life and careers of these ladies. Overall, this was a well researched and written book. It seemed to be a good mix of education and storytelling.
    • 5/5
      DescriptionPaperback, 114 pagesExpected publication: February 1st 2018, by Capstone PressISBN 1515799638 (ISBN13: 9781515799634)Edition Language EnglishFor Ages: 8-12Four female African-American mathematicians made it possible to launch US rockets—and astronauts—into space. Hidden Women is the thrilling tale of how each woman contributed, the struggles and resistance each experienced, and the amazing results.Author Bio:Rebecca Rissman can usually be found at her laptop, hard at work on a new book for children. She’s written over 100 nonfiction books for young readers about science, math, and history.MY REVIEW:Thank you Netgalley and Capstone Press for allowing me an ARC for reading and providing an honest review.I found this book incredibly well-written with the exception of very small issues that can easily be fixed. These issues did not take away from the informative, fast-read, and the great job Rebecca Rissman did chronicling the lives of four particular African American female mathematicians working for NASA during a time of civil rights unrest, equal rights differences and the cold war.Due out February 1st, 2018, published by Capstone Press.The narrative non-fiction work targets middle-grade readers (ages 8 to 12), but this could be a good read for anyone age 8 and older.  I immensely enjoyed reading about these amazing women and their careers from  beginning through changes in society and NASA’s inner structures, to their conclusive accomplishments accumulated to retirement.  The treatment of people because of race and/or color, and sex has always struck me as such a huge waste of time. Imagine what this world could have accomplished without these barricades slowing discoveries down. While I was impressed with all that these intelligent women accomplished, I also felt somewhat saddened that each accomplishment could have been so much more if they had been able to surpass such obstacles as race and inequality, or not have to deal with them at all.It’s a great book and should be read by everyone. Sited nicely, extra material at the back of the book, questions, etc.

    Book preview

    Hidden Women - Rebecca Rissman

    TABLE OF CONTENTS

    Cover

    Title Page

    Chapter 1: Get the Girl

    Chapter 2: The Space Race

    Chapter 3: Running Numbers

    Chapter 4: A Woman in the Wind Tunnel

    Chapter 5: Testing Rockets

    Chapter 6: Annie Easley and the Centaur

    Chapter 7: A Year of Tragedy and New Hope

    Chapter 8: The Moon Landing, A Dream Come True

    Chapter 9: Houston, We’ve Had a Problem

    Chapter 10: After the Race

    Epilogue

    Timeline

    Glossary

    Read More

    Internet Sites

    Critical Thinking Questions

    Bibliography

    Source Notes

    Index

    About the Author

    Copyright

    Back Cover

    CHAPTER 1

    GET THE GIRL

    Everyone was watching her.

    Katherine Johnson

    It was a chilly morning in February 1962. Katherine Johnson glanced up from her calculations to see a crowd of anxious white men surrounding her desk. Each man was leaning forward, trying to catch a glimpse of her work. Her pencil danced across the graph paper. She jotted long strings of numbers that stretched to impossible lengths. Finally Johnson’s pencil stopped. Her eyes darted across the numbers once, and then twice. With a sigh, she smiled and leaned back in her chair.

    The crowd of men inside the Space Task Group office at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Aeronautical Research Lab instantly broke up. The room erupted into a frenzy of chatter. Several men picked up their desk phones to report the news. Johnson had confirmed the numbers. That meant astronaut John Glenn would be safe to fly.

    More than 850 miles away from Johnson’s desk in Langley, Virginia, Glenn nervously walked across the sun-baked launch pad in Florida’s Cape Canaveral.

    He looked up at a towering rocket. On the very top sat a tiny metal capsule, his spaceship. Glenn was preparing to become the first American to orbit Earth. If all went well, his ship would zoom three times around the planet. It would exceed speeds of 17,000 miles per hour. That part wasn’t what was bothering Glenn. He was worried about how — or if — he could get his ship back home.

    Space flight was extremely precise. It relied on countless complex mathematical equations. If Glenn didn’t direct his ship back down to Earth at the exact right moment, speed, and angle, he was doomed. His ship could bounce off Earth’s dense atmosphere and skip out into space. Or it would land in the wrong spot. If it didn’t splash down in a deep ocean, it could be crushed upon impact.

    Glenn knew that NASA had used its new IBM computer to calculate the details of his flight. This room-sized machine was supposedly able to perform calculations faster and better than any human. But Glenn just didn’t trust it. He was a test pilot. A man who followed his gut. Right now his gut told him he needed the best brains at NASA to confirm the numbers. He knew who he wanted to do the job: an African-American woman he’d seen in some of his preflight meetings. He didn’t know her name but that didn’t matter. He’d told his team: Get the girl to check the numbers. If she says the numbers are good, I’m ready to go.¹

    Glenn understood that his behavior might raise red flags. NASA expected him to toe the agency line. He needed to follow orders. He needed to perform his duties. And he needed to help the United States win the race to space. It was one thing for an astronaut to ask for a double check of numbers. It was another thing entirely to ask for a black woman to do the job.

    Just then, Glenn looked up. Two NASA technicians were jogging across the launch pad toward him smiling broadly. Glenn knew Katherine Johnson must have done the math. Glenn laughed quietly and looked at the sky. He was going to space.

    Astronaut John Glenn orbited Earth in Friendship 7.

    On February 20, 1962, John Glenn blasted off. He completed three Earth orbits before safely splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean. Glenn was celebrated as an American hero. He was the star of parades, parties, and countless news stories. One hundred thirty-five million people had watched his mission on TV.

    Johnson wasn’t invited to any

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