Book report by Lucas Dienger

Dorothy Vaughan

32ldienger — 2025-02-19 14:18:11 UTC

The head of West Computing, 32 years old, taught math before applying for Langly and was taught to read by her stepmother before she started school. She was very smart. In Hidden Figures, " At Wilberforce, Dorothy earned 'splendid grades' and chose math as her major. When she was an upperclassman, one of Dorothy’s professors at Wilberforce recommended her for graduate study in mathematics at Howard University, in what would be the inaugural class for a master’s degree in the subject." When Langley started to let white and black computers work together she soon lost her role as head of west computing.

Mary Jackson

32ldienger — 2025-02-19 14:19:35 UTC

Very independent. In Hidden Figures, "Always an independent-minded woman, Mary passed up the all-white bridal gown for a shorter white dress with black sequins, accessorized with black gloves, black pumps, and a red rose corsage." She was also smart she was also a mother. When she got married her last name changed from Winston to Jackson.

Kathrine Johnson

32ldienger — 2025-02-19 14:20:27 UTC

Also very smart. From Hidden Figures, " Whenever her teachers noticed that Kathrine's desk was empty, they would look for her in the classroom next door, where they would find her helping her older brother with his math lesson." She was a wife and mother and was content with her life. She also was moved from West Computing to the Flight Research Division.

Christine Darden

32ldienger — 2025-02-19 14:21:08 UTC

She can't be affected very well by what people say. People wouldn't treat her as an official citizen but she still joined the voting registration drives and urged other black people to join them too. Her last name changed from Mann to Darden. She was black, well read.

Hidden Figures

32ldienger — 2025-02-24 14:10:45 UTC

3 women helped win World War 2, helped build planes that could fly at Mach 1 ( speed of sound ) and faster than Mach 1, and landed a man on the moon to win the space race against the Soviet Union. Credit to winning World War 2: Dorothy Vaughan helped bomb Japan on 8/14/1945 at 7:00 P.M. She did this at Langley and did it because World War 2 was devastating to everyone. Credit to Mary Jackson for helping pierce the sound barrier by assisting with the production of Bell X-1 at Langley because Langley aimed to pierce the sound barrier. And on 10/14/1947, Chuck Yeager successfully pierced the sound barrier. Credit for landing a man on the moon: Kathrine Johnson. She checked the calculations and made sure they were correct while she was at Langley, she did this Because NASA had a goal to get a man on the moon before the Soviet Union. And on 7/20/1969 Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the moon. One of the major conflicts in the story was that the Soviet Union was able to launch the satellite Sputnik 1 into space before the U.S. and also the first human ( Yuri Gagarin ) into space before the U.S. but the conflict was resolved by the U.S. landing the first man on the moon.

Significance of the title

32ldienger — 2025-02-24 16:11:57 UTC

I think the author named this book Hidden Figures because the people this book is about are not given as much credit for helping with landing a man on the moon as they should be given.

Things I learned

32ldienger — 2025-02-24 16:16:50 UTC

1. Mary Jackson, Dorothy Vaughan, Kathrine Johnson, and Christine Darden played a big part in winning the space race. 2. The Bell X-1 and Chuck Yeager were the first plane and man to Peirce the sound barrier.

3. John Glenn didn't trust the robot computer's calculations but did trust Kathrine Johnson's calculating skills, that's why he asked her to double-check the robot computer's calculations.

4. 10/14/1947 was the day Chuck Yeager pierced the sound barrier.

5. 8/14/1945 was the day World War 2 ended.

Personal Reflections

32ldienger — 2025-02-24 16:46:52 UTC

Something that interested me was the piercing of the sound barrier. Something that surprised me was that the U.S. actually launched a chimpanzee into space. Something that bothered me was that one of the Apollo spaceships blew up killing everyone inside. Something that bored me was the prologue. One question I have is: what did Christine Darden do to land a man on the moon?