![]() Many things that happened at Langley Field have made our world a better place. There was a wonderful story of how the astronauts trusted Katherine Johnston more than the new automated computer machines. ![]() ![]() I especially enjoyed the detailing of the growth of respect between people who worked on the space technology, the east and west computers becoming one group, and how relationships changed between people in a place where the good work one did mattered more than one’s gender or skin color, despite the distressing Jim Crow rules. ![]() Although I’m not a technical type, I enjoyed reading this excellent, well-written book, full of personal stories about women who worked hard. Since Shetterly grew up knowing many of the people, the book had a personal feel, in spite of the amount of math and science involved. We broke our overly cautious rule of not selecting a book that hadn’t first been read by a member, but no questions asked, we were reading this book! Hidden Figures, by Margot Lee Shetterly, was the one book the three of us were unanimous in choosing, with much excited discussion of the book, which had just been released. Three years ago, I was honored to be chosen as one of the selection team for our Book Group, tasked with selecting nine books from the thirty or so suggested by our members. Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and others worked at Langley Field West Computers the white women worked in the east computing pool. I was saddened last week to hear of the death of Katherine Johnson, one of the human “computers,” women with math degrees who worked for NACA, which became NASA, aiding the development of the space program, during the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s. ![]()
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