June 15, 2020 | kasarak
Janice Ford recommends A Computer Called Katherine by Suzanne Buckinham Slade. Janice shares, "Katherine was a math whiz, who was African American and was instrumental in providing the necessary math calculations for NASA's first human space flights." Janice also shares, "I selected this book because, as an engineer, I want to share Katherine's contribution to the world, especially with young girls and minority children in our community. I want them to be encouraged to dream big and to plunge into the Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) fields."
The inspiring true story of mathematician Katherine Johnson--made famous by the award-winning film Hidden Figures--who counted and computed her way to NASA and helped put a man on the moon!
Katherine knew it was wrong that African Americans didn't have the same rights as others--as wrong as 5+5=12. She knew it was wrong that people thought women could only be teachers or nurses--as wrong as 10-5=3. And she proved everyone wrong by zooming ahead of her classmates, starting college at fifteen, and eventually joining NASA, where her calculations helped pioneer America's first manned flight into space, its first manned orbit of Earth, and the world's first trip to the moon!
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Women around the world have long dreamed big, even when they've been told their dreams didn't matter. They've spoken out, risen up and fought for what's right, even when they've been told to be quiet. Whether in science, the arts, sports or activism, women and girls throughout history have been determined to break barriers and change the status quo. They haven't let anyone get in their way and have helped us better understand our world and what's possible. In this companion book to She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World, Chelsea Clinton introduces readers to a group of thirteen incredible women who have shaped history all across the globe.
Katherine Coleman Johnson. Eugenie Clark. Marie Tharp. Gertrude Elion. Florence Hawley Ellis. Eleanor Margaret Burbidge. Acclaimed author Laurie Lawlor deftly paints portraits of each of these figures who refused to take no for an answer, pursuing their passions through fieldwork, observations, laboratories, and research vessels in the face of sexism, racism, and more. This diverse group of women, all with awe-inspiring accomplishments, were active mentors and determined people who wouldn't take no for an answer.
Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden were good at math...really good.
They participated in some of NASA's greatest successes, like providing the calculations for America's first journeys into space. And they did so during a time when being black and a woman limited what they could do. But they worked hard. They persisted. And they used their genius minds to change the world.
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