Notes

SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE 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. Before Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of professionals worked as 'Human Computers', calculating the flight paths that would enable these historic achievements. Among these were a coterie of bright, talented African-American women. Segregated from their white counterparts, these 'colored computers' used pencil and paper to write the equations that would launch rockets, and astronauts, into space. 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.

NZ Review: 'Shetterly's highly recommended work offers up a crucial history that had previously and unforgivably been lost. We'd do well to put this book into the hands of young women who have long since been told that there's no room for them at the scientific table' Library Journal
UK Review: Bertrams Star Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

Author's Bio
Margot Lee Shetterly is a journalist and independent researcher currently developing The Human Computer Project, a collaboration with Macalester College American Studies professor Duchess Harris to create a digital archive of the stories of NASA's African-American Human Computers. In 2005, she founded Inside Mexico Magazine, which became the most widely distributed English language publication in Mexico. She's been profiled in the LA Times and Editor and Publisher, among other publications.