Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly | 2016 | William Morrow | Paperback $15.99
Set against the backdrop of the Jim Crow South and the civil rights movement, this is the never-before-told true story of NASA’s African-American female mathematicians who played a crucial role in America’s space program — and whose contributions have been unheralded, until now.
This book was gifted to me this past Christmas, but I didn’t end up reading it until just last month — and I read most of it via audiobook on my drives to and from work, at that.
Though this book is partly about the science and tech that enabled early space exploration, it’s also about people overcoming severe racism and sexism to just do their jobs and, incidentally, make fantastic contributions to our nation’s history. It’s so hard to imagine what these women had to deal with to do the incredible work that they rarely even get credit for. To be a woman AND African-American in the sciences in early-mid 20th century was no picnic in the park, that’s for dang sure.
I haven’t seen the associated movie, but whether you have or haven’t I’d say this book is worth reading in and of itself. Shetterly covers a lot of cultural and historical context that I don’t think could even be translated onto film very well. That’s not to say that this is a particularly academic text — it’s got a quite engaging narrative style — but I don’t think the movie could really serve as a replacement for it on the whole.
Links:
- Official book website
- Official author website
- Author interview on NPR’s “All Things Considered” show
- Article in Scientific American
- Article in the Smithsonian
Publication information: Shetterly, Margot Lee. Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race. New York: William Morrow, 2016. Print.
Source: Public library.
Disclaimer: I am not compensated, monetarily or otherwise, for reviews of books or other products.