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Carrie

Fascinating book; very different from the movie

Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2017

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I saw the movie before I read the book, and I am honestly not sure whether that was a good or bad thing. I loved the movie, and I loved the book, but they are very different.

Generally, the book is a very fast-paced and interesting read about the black women who worked at the Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia, and their many and varied contributions to the field of aeronautical and astronautical research. It is part biography, part history of NASA, part history of segregation, part history of the civil rights movement, part history of the Virginia peninsula, and part history of women's rights. It is absolutely fascinating.

That being said, the book is very different from the movie, so don't go into it expecting them to be the same. The movie is deeply touching, but it is actually fairly inaccurate, and it has been pretty aggressively whitewashed (see re: the Kevin Costner character). I think it is good to both see the movie and read the book, because one of the critical differences, and the difference that I think is missed entirely by the movie (to its great detriment) is the way in which issues of segregation were actually tackled at Langley. The movie makes it appear that enlightened white men of power were responsible for Langley's integration, when in fact the integration of Langley was almost entirely borne organically and of necessity. The book does a good job of explaining this, whereas that aspect of the movie is almost entirely fictionalized. I thought the movie took away some of the women's victories in this area (Katherine Johnson, for example, never went to the "colored" bathroom. She just used the regular, unlabeled bathroom, and no one ever told her not to), but the book gives the women more credit for their small yet trailblazing acts of defiance.

One other note: the book actually covers quite a bit of complex scientific detail, but it is entirely readable to the layperson.

I highly, highly recommend this book.

Amazon Customer

Enjoy The Pie!

Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2017

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My comments are somewhat bias since Katherine Johnson is my aunt. I have seen the movie twice and read the book. My preference is the book mostly because of the additional information provided about Aunt Katherine. Many movie goers who only see the movie will miss out on a number of opportunities to see more realistically Aunt Katherine's nature, attitudes, and life's perspectives on work, family, and race. The movie is done very well and I commend all those involved in its production including the talented stars. It is a case of getting one slice of pie when you could get two slices. I suggest you eat WELL! ATBroady

jnbindiego

This was such a disappointing read.

Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2018

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Reading this book was torture. I was miserable. I would get through a chapter and have to walk away from it. The lack of focus in the writing was exhausting. Each paragraph would introduce 6 new characters and go on a tangent in a completely different direction. I didn’t connect with any of the characters because it truly jumped all over the place. I don’t remember the last time I struggled to get through a book this bad. I feel no satisfaction for making it through. It never got better. What a disappointment.

Remarkable Women

Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2017

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I read Hidden Figures for a local book club. I was in the minority for having finished the book. Most of the ladies went to see the movie. I gave the book five stars for the importance of the subject, new information shared, and for the author's extensive research. As a reading experience, I rated the book three stars; I did not have an emotional connection that compelled me to read on.

I appreciate the author's bringing these women to public attention. I liked how their story is presented in the context of the prevailing racial attitudes of their time.

The book is not a biography of a few women, as in the movie. It is a study in culture.

The bulk of the book covers the massive need for computers--mathematicians--during WWII, offering women and people of color unique job opportunities working for NACA. There were at least 50 black women who worked at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory between 1943 and 1980. President Roosevelt signed an executive order to desegregate the defense industry, creating the Fair Employment Practices Committee.

The African American women hired as computers were not only qualified, some had more education than their white counterparts. Their job opportunities and salary level had been limited, and landing a job at Langley allowed brilliant minds work equal to their ability. The women were dedicated, their high standards apparent in their dress and demeanor as well as in the excellence of their work. The high quality of their work brought respect from the engineers. At the same time, Virginia's segregation laws restricted the women to where they could live and what bathroom they could use.

The later part of the book covers the change of the NACA to NASA and the Space Race. I found it more compelling to read. The technology was changing to computers and the mathematicians had to retool their skills to keep up with the times.

My favorite story was about John Glenn's 1962 flight and how Glenn didn't trust computers to get him safely back to Earth; he said, "Get the girl to check the numbers. If she says the number are good, I'm ready to go." He trusted Kathryn Johnson, the human computer.

Top reviews from other countries

OKCole

Compelling social more than technical history

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 14, 2018

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I'll start by acknowledging how much I enjoyed this book. That being said, certain aspects of it disappointed me.

The first and most obvious, is the lack of any illustrations or photographs. It would have added significantly to the impact of the book to see photographs of the key individuals described in the book and also the buildings and laboratories/test equipment they were using. Many such photos exist as a quick check via Google shows. On a personal level, I would have enjoyed seeing some examples of the types of maths that were being used. I can understand this not being included in the main text but could have been included as an appendix.

There are two major themes carried in the writing, one being the difficulties and damage caused by segregation, the other being the emergence of NASA and the US space program. Hence, it is probably inevitable that book is written primarily for US readership. That is not meant as criticism, only as an observation. In practice, for readers outside the US, it may mean resorting to Google to find out about individuals referred to in the book but are not well known outside the US. As an example, I can cite the mention of Althea Gibson: an apt but not obvious choice as a sportsperson.

I found the balance tilted more towards the discussion of segregation than the technical and scientific aspects . In places, the description of the cruelties and loss inflicted by segregation became a little repetitive. But it could also be argued some issues bear repeating. On the other hand, as a child, I recall listening to discussions about how the US overtook the USSR as it was then because of its mastery of the orbital mechanics required for spacecraft rendezvous. I was hoping to learn more about the role Katherine Johnson played in this development. In the film of the same name, there was a scene which seemed to indicate she had played a/the key role in mastering the maths involved but there was scant mention in the book. The book did refer to Mrs.Johnson's calculations in the launches of the early Mercury astronauts and, later, Apollo 11 and 13. But, I'm still wondering if she led the refinement and application of the maths involved in space rendezvous.

Two, minor themes of the book were the male - female and the engineer versus non-engineer biases at NACA and later NASA. The former was (and may probably still be) true of most working environments at that time. As for engineers: it's not just in the aerospace industry that engineers consider themselves to be first among equals. That being said, as a non-engineer who worked with engineers of different flavours (electrical, mechanical and chemical) at different times, I find them to be an uncommonly well qualified and knowledgeable cadre. In any working environment, someone has to lead and in a technology-led domain like aerospace, it's inevitable that engineers take charge. I can point to the decline of several large corporations when the engineers who founded the company were replaced by bureaucrats and bean-counters.

But these are mainly personal observations about a fine book which I have recommended to several friends and my family. The book is well written and carefully researched as attested by the long list of notes and the bibliography.

ChrisG

Ana astonishing account of brilliant women and much much better than the film.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 22, 2017

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This is an astonishing account of the considerable numbers of black women mathematicians in the US's space programme. They did the calculations that helped get men into space. Who knew? I was thinking while reading it of the recent furore at google over a programmer who believed that women find it hard to apply the necessary analytical skills to become programmers. This book utterly disproves that, It is also an account of the civil rights movement in the US and of the discrimination that makes these women's achievements all the more remarkable.

The book is a little hard to read at first because of the vast cast of characters, but it's well worth persevering. It is a brilliant account of character, politics and ability, breaking stereotypes as it goes. If you are interested in men in space, in the history of science, in black women's lives, in women in science or just in finding how much of the film was factual ( almost all of it, but not in quite the same way it happened; they moved parts around to create a filmable story) Read This Book. I learned a great from it and it is life enhancing to see how strong the characters of black women can be. I feel chastened, and am clearly undereducated in life, in ways these women were not.

Wednesday's child

Read the book, never mind the film.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 18, 2017

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I personally did love it, though a friend of mine found the Americanisms a bit hard to take (too slangy). However, I hadn't even noticed. If you've seen the film based on this book, please read the book. It's got SO much more in it, and its so revealing about the race divisions in America of the time. It really is a revelation, even if like me you think you know what went on. The film was OK, but for the real deal, do read this book. Highly recommended.

Brgirl

Terrible writing style but a wonderful story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 4, 2018

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This is a wonderful story but so badly told. It's such a shame because there really is a wonderful true story of strong, intelligent black women in there, who triumph despite all the odds. However, I'm afraid the author's writing style is worse than bad and she does not do these women justice at all. It's also a very odd mix of docudrama style, historical detail and annoying imagined conversations which just make the characters feel even more 2 dimensional than before. I did finish it, but I will be avoiding anything by this author in future. I understand the film is better – if you want to know the story, watch that instead!!

Aoife

Really great and informative

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 3, 2020

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A truly inspiring story about women who paved the way of scientific progress when there were so many barriers put in front of them by the world already; their education, their race, their gender. I loved learning about all of the women in this book and how women, and in particular, women of colour, were such core members of NACA's team as it eventually built itself into NASA.

It's infuriating that so many of these women were lost or forgotten a bit in history due to the true nature of many women which is to put your head down, and just work your best while forgetting to speak up and speak out about your true talents and progress. And also the assumption of men that the women shouldn't have gotten any credit for all the amazing projects they helped build with their amazing minds.

I would have liked more focus on the Mercury and Apollo era as I felt by the time we got to this point in history, the actual space exploration was a bit skipped over and didn't seem to get as much emphasis as the build up to NASA in the 40s and 50s.

I'm also not someone blessed with a mathematical brain, at all, so there were some science-y bits in this book that I definitely did not understand at all.

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