Auger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2019Ĥ8 pp. Equations, angles, and diagrams fill Miller Jamison's expressive, layered illustrations. Inspiring, upbeat, and clever, Slade's text highlights the racism, sexism, and other false beliefs that Johnson confronted. During her career, Johnson calculated Alan Shepard’s First-American-in-Space flight path, John Glenn’s First-American-to-Orbit-Earth trajectory, and Apollo 11’s Race-to-the-Moon-and-Back flight path. In 1953, Katherine Johnson started work as a "computer," or mathematician, for what would become NASA. Slade, Suzanne A Computer Called Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Helped Put America on the MoonĤ0 pp. Shetterly's (author of the adult title, the basis for the movie) text barely scratches the surface of the women's stories, but she strives admirably to place their accomplishments within historical context. Although the illustrations are static, their rich, saturated colors provide interest. A serviceable introduction to four African American women mathematicians who, despite discrimination, played vital roles for the U.S. Shetterly, Margot Lee Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space RaceĤ0 pp. Cline-Ransome focuses on Johnson’s childhood and early career illustrator Colón renders Johnson in vibrant colors, making her a literal standout among the men and women of NASA. But the space program’s growth during the Cold War opened doors for her, first as a human “computer” then as a researcher. Mathematics prodigy Katherine Johnson’s (1918–2020) opportunities were limited by mid-century America’s attitudes toward women of color. Phumiruk's illustrations, created in Photoshop with scans of watercolors and textures, are clean and precise small figures give way to a dramatic close-up of Johnson calculating the safe flight path home. In straightforward text with a folksy refrain of "count on me," this picture book biography introduces the life of math genius, NASA computer, and Hidden Figures notable Katherine Johnson, culminating in her Apollo 13 triumph. Reviews below are from The Horn Book Guide Online.īecker, Helaine Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13Ĥ0 pp. AUGERįrom the January/February 2020Horn Book Magazine. Humble and inspiring, the math genius notes: “Mine is just one tale in a long and unending chain of Black heroism and excellence that began long ago.” Black-and-white photographs are included. Ferguson, the Ku Klux Klan, Emmett Till, etc., to give context for her - and her family’s - personal experiences with segregation and racism. Johnson’s writing is clear, warm, and candid, and she smoothly weaves in details about Plessy v. Katherine’s analytic geometry expertise soon made her the go-to expert for calculating flight paths, including Apollo 11’s Lunar Lander trajectory. After teaching school and having three daughters, Katherine landed her dream job at NACA (NASA’s predecessor), joining a computing unit staffed entirely by African American women. Eight years later, she graduated from West Virginia State with a clear goal: to become a research mathematician. In 1926, to support her education - and that of her three older siblings - Katherine’s parents moved the family to Institute, West Virginia, which had a high school for Black students Katherine started there at age ten. I loved numbers and numbers loved me,” she writes in this down-to-earth, conversational autobiography. Katherine was - get this! - four years old at the time. She joined his class for a day and quietly tutored him. To help her older brother with his math work at school, Katherine Johnson hatched a plan. Intermediate, Middle School Atheneum 250 pp. Reaching for the Moon: The Autobiography of NASA Mathematician Katherine Johnson As we near the end of Black History Month and with Women's History Month on the horizon, readers can learn about - and be inspired by - Johnson's life and accomplishments. In recent years there have been several books for young people about this remarkable "hidden figure," including her 2019 autobiography Reaching for the Moon and the titles below. We were sad to hear of the death today of Katherine Johnson at age 101.
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