Summary, Analysis & Review of Margot Lee Shetterly's Hidden Figures by Instaread

By: Instaread Summaries

Narrated by: Susan Murphy

Length: 25 mins

Publisher's summary

Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly is a history of black women who were mathematicians and engineers in 20th-century aeronautics and space programs. It focuses particularly on black women who served as human computers as they performed calculations at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia during and after World War II.

During the war, the United States was desperate for mathematicians and engineers to work in aeronautics. With many men fighting in the war, women took on professional jobs. A number of black women applied for positions at Langley. Among them was Dorothy Vaughan, who had excelled in mathematics as a young woman and had then gone into teaching. Pay in segregated schools was much less than Vaughan could make as a human computer performing calculations for engineers. So she changed careers....

PLEASE NOTE: This is a summary, analysis, and review of the book and not the original book. What you'll find inside:

• Overview of the Book
• Important People
• Key Takeaways
• Analysis of Key Takeaways

With Instaread, you can get the key takeaways, summary, and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways, and analyze them for your convenience.

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