![]() ![]() Katherine is possibly my most favourite character in the book, closely followed by Mary. I thought it really showed the beauty of Mary’s character and how, even though her race and gender were an issue for others back then, she refused to let them be an issue for herself. I know I’m guilty of placing restrictions on myself even though I try to alleviate them off others. These are some of my favourite sentences in the book because I feel they still resonate today with many people. Their dark skin, their gender, their economic status – none of those were acceptable excuses for not giving the fullest rein to their imaginations and ambitions. “Mary didn’t have the power to remove the limits that society imposed on her girls, but it was her duty, she felt, to help pry off the restrictions they might place on themselves. There were certain sentences and paragraphs that were so strong and poignant that it made my inner feminist rejoice such as:. There were aspects of the book that I loved and those parts were based solely around the strength and focus of these women. It gave the impression that the writer had been let into Langley’s archives and let loose so she had to relay every piece of what she found back to us. I liked hearing about the women’s work, what they had a hand in but the general information about what NACA/NASA was working on just bored me because it had nothing to do with any of the women the book was meant to be about. Another aspect was all of the scientific information that was relayed to me, it was excessive and I felt like I needed a science degree to read the book. It really threw me and made me forget where I was with each woman’s story and the sense of pride I had for what I was reading about them would dissipate. The chapter would begin with Dorothy or Mary or Katherine before it was deviated away to address racism in America generally then it was brought back quickly and crudely with a few rushed sentences. What I didn’t appreciate was the fact that racism was brought up at every opportunity, like it was being shoved in my face, and really detracted from the story. Racism was and still is horrendous what people had to endure in the 1940’s, 50’s, 60’s and going right up to the current day is atrocious and unacceptable and I understand using it as a back drop for the story to show how these women came through this awful barrier of race and then having to get through the glass ceiling of their gender to become some of the greatest scientific minds in the world. Anything to do with Dorothy and her work, life and nature enthralled me, however, I was only given a few sentences here and there about Dorothy, the rest of the chapters were taken up with racism and scientific information. The book takes us through the 1940’s and begins with Dorothy Vaughan and how she got her chance to work at Langley. It could have been so much more than what it was and it could have paid greater homage to these women and their stories. Don’t get me wrong, it had elements of that but, in all, I thought this book was a let down. Review: I was incredibly excited when I got my hands on this book I thought it was going to be an in depth look at the lives of these women and how they were such an important part of aerodynamics and the space race. Moving from World War II through NASA’s golden age, touching on the civil rights era, the Space Race, the Cold War, and the women’s rights movement, Hidden Figures interweaves a rich history of mankind’s greatest adventure with the intimate stories of five courageous women whose work forever changed the world ![]() Segregated from their white counterparts, these ‘colored computers’ used pencil and paper to write the equations that would launch rockets, and astronauts, into space. Among these were a coterie of bright, talented African-American women. Set amid the civil rights movement, the never-before-told true story of NASA’s African-American female mathematicians who played a crucial role in America’s space program.īefore Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of professionals worked as ‘Human Computers’, calculating the flight paths that would enable these historic achievements. Publication Date: February 2017 (This Edition) ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |