Lee Shetterly, Margot

Hidden figures : the untold story of the African American women who helped win the Space Race / Margot Lee Shetterly. - xviii, 346 pages ; 24 cm

U.S. ed. published with a variant subtitle: Hidden figures :

Includes bibliographical references (pages 319-328) and index.

Before Neil Armstrong could walk on the moon, a group of female mathematicians known as 'human computers' used pencils and calculators to crunch the numbers that would launch rockets, and humans, into space. Among these problem-solvers were a group of African American women. Originally confined to teaching in the South's segregated public schools, they were called into service during World War II, when America's aeronautics industry faced a dire shortage of people with the right stuff. Suddenly, these overlooked intellects could access jobs worthy of their skills - and the trailblazing project in progress at NASA's Langley facility. Following the careers of four African American women - Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Christine Darden - Hidden Figures moves from World War II through NASA's golden age, the Space Race, the civil rights era and the women's rights movement.

9780008201289 9780008201326 (pbk.)


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


Women mathematicians--United States--Biography.
African American women--Biography.
African American mathematicians--Biography.
Space race.