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Rick's Interview with Author of Hidden Figures, Margot Lee Shetterly
INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY
THURSDAY, MARCH 16th
HIDDEN FIGURES
The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race
BY MARGOT LEE SHETTERLY
Imagine the first scientists and engineers trying to send rockets—and eventually people—into space. With no electronic computers, they relied on an elite group of mathematicians capable of doing the most challenging calculations by hand, calculations that would launch men into space and forever expand our knowledge of the universe.
Among these “human computers” were the black women whose genius for numbers made space exploration and travel possible. They’re finally introduced to America in Margot Lee Shetterly’s HIDDEN FIGURES: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race. Now available in paperback, the book was an instant New York Timesbestseller upon its release in September 2016.
It’s no surprise that this story was adapted for film even before the book was finished. It’s the inspiring yet largely unknown true story of the African-American female mathematicians at NASA whose work that helped fuel some of America’s greatest achievements in space. Ironically, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden were responsible for some of NASA’s greatest successes at a time when Jim Crow laws ensured NASA remained segregated.
HIDDEN FIGURES is a story that combines the rich intersection of the civil rights era, the Space Race, the Cold War, and the movement for gender equality. Margot Lee Shetterly is the perfect person to write it. A journalist and independent researcher, she is also the daughter of one of NASA’s first black engineers. Her insider’s knowledge, direct access to NASA executives and the women featured in the book lend it a depth and perspective that goes beyond mere research.
HIDDEN FIGURES draws on extensive research, oral histories, personal recollections, interviews, and articles from the era to create an incredible picture of never-before-seen history.
Now available in trade paperback and soon to be a major motion picture from 20th Century Fox starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Kirsten Dunst, and Kevin Costner, with a soundtrack by Pharrell
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: MARGOT LEE SHETTERLY is a writer who grew up in Hampton, Virginia, where she knew many of the women in Hidden Figures. She is an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow and the recipient of a Virginia Foundation of the Humanities grant for her research into the history of women in computing. She lives in Charlottesville, VA.
DreamsTimes
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By Breakfast ClubINTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY
THURSDAY, MARCH 16th
HIDDEN FIGURES
The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race
BY MARGOT LEE SHETTERLY
Imagine the first scientists and engineers trying to send rockets—and eventually people—into space. With no electronic computers, they relied on an elite group of mathematicians capable of doing the most challenging calculations by hand, calculations that would launch men into space and forever expand our knowledge of the universe.
Among these “human computers” were the black women whose genius for numbers made space exploration and travel possible. They’re finally introduced to America in Margot Lee Shetterly’s HIDDEN FIGURES: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race. Now available in paperback, the book was an instant New York Timesbestseller upon its release in September 2016.
It’s no surprise that this story was adapted for film even before the book was finished. It’s the inspiring yet largely unknown true story of the African-American female mathematicians at NASA whose work that helped fuel some of America’s greatest achievements in space. Ironically, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden were responsible for some of NASA’s greatest successes at a time when Jim Crow laws ensured NASA remained segregated.
HIDDEN FIGURES is a story that combines the rich intersection of the civil rights era, the Space Race, the Cold War, and the movement for gender equality. Margot Lee Shetterly is the perfect person to write it. A journalist and independent researcher, she is also the daughter of one of NASA’s first black engineers. Her insider’s knowledge, direct access to NASA executives and the women featured in the book lend it a depth and perspective that goes beyond mere research.
HIDDEN FIGURES draws on extensive research, oral histories, personal recollections, interviews, and articles from the era to create an incredible picture of never-before-seen history.
Now available in trade paperback and soon to be a major motion picture from 20th Century Fox starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Kirsten Dunst, and Kevin Costner, with a soundtrack by Pharrell
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: MARGOT LEE SHETTERLY is a writer who grew up in Hampton, Virginia, where she knew many of the women in Hidden Figures. She is an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow and the recipient of a Virginia Foundation of the Humanities grant for her research into the history of women in computing. She lives in Charlottesville, VA.
DreamsTimes