Great story

I think I would have preferred to read this in book format rather than listen to it. The narrator is great but there are a lot of different people and sometimes it was hard to keep track of who was who. In books like these, I tend to look back at what I've read in order to remind myself of certain facts because I have a bad memory. Otherwise this was very enjoyable.

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Great story, badly written

A great story about some amazing women which is incredibly dully told. The writer rarely brings these women's stories to life. The narrator was very poor too.

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2 people found this helpful

How did I not know about these women?

This book details the struggles and determination of a group of black women to be recognised for their worth. Brilliant mathematicians, they were housed in their own department and endured humiliating segregation socially despite working alongside white male colleagues.

What's really interesting about this book is that it examines the impact of the women becoming successful- good and bad.

The narrative is provided warmly but the underlying steel of the book shines through the narration and it beautifully brings the story to life.
Highly recommended

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16 people found this helpful

Informative and Illuminating

I enjoyed the movie that was based on this book, and my experience of the book itself was richer. Although the telling of it was a bit disjointed the way a movie wouldn't be, condensed as it was, it was no less illuminating and filled to the brim with eye-opening facts and figures which bring context to the ground breaking work that is showcased in the film. I enjoyed this very much, and the narration was excellent.

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So much more than the film

I'm so glad that I watched the film first, otherwise it would have been a total disappointment. The book is extensive, and the story of the film seems quite different to the truth. The bare bones are the same: a trio of remarkable women broke boundaries in both gender and race to be part of one of the most historic events in US and even world history - the space race.

Before Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of professionals worked as ‘Human Computers’, calculating the flight paths by hand that would enable these historic achievements. Among these were a coterie of bright, talented African-American women. Forget Silicon Valley's misogynistic climate - women were the original engineers and mathematicians.

The book is awash with interesting stories of extraordinary people working in a time of segregation and all pervasive racism. It has multiple layers that delve into each character, and gives a comprehensive context into these women's lives. It basically fills in the gaps of the film, but also changes the timeline considerably as Katherine Johnson was much younger than her colleague Dorothy Vaughan. Nevertheles, an extraordinary read and a great tribute to these invisible women.

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9 people found this helpful

Unfocused

This is a thoroughly researched book that tells an important story. For that reason I wish I could recommend it more.
If you've seen the film you'll know what it's about: the significant role black women played in the space programme despite the prejudice against both their skin colour and their gender. Prior to the publication of this book, and the release of the film, their contribution was largely forgotten or unknown, even by people like myself who are interested in space travel.
So what's wrong with the book?
To my mind, it's the structure that lets it down. We're just told facts, dry facts and lots of 'em. And so many names! The film focuses on three key women, but in the book the names of the main characters are lost among the minor players. There's some moving about in time too, so that it's quite hard to follow, especially as an audio book. It's not helped by the narrator's monotone, which makes the story fall quite flat at times.
If I'd been editor I'd have given chapter titles that clue us in to the purpose of the chapter. Let us know whether a chapter is focused on Katherine Johnson, or Mary Jackson, or relevant historical events, or technological developments at the time, or whatever. This could make the book much more accessible without having to dumb it down.
Don't get me wrong, it's not all dull and worthy. There are breathtaking moments, such as the appearance of Sputnik, John Glenn's precarious landing and so on. Also, the author is not in any way trying to make readers/listeners feel guilty for being white and/or male, and in fact there are heart-warming moments when friendships form that look beyond colour or gender.
At the end of the day, getting through this book is more of an effort than it should be, but is nevertheless worth the effort.
I will probably listen to the book again, or perhaps read a print version. I'll also watch the film again, even though I now know it takes a few liberties with history.

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2 people found this helpful

Racism in science

This is less biographical and more about the structural racism. Interesting certainly but I wasn’t riveted.

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Really enjoyable and educational

I saw the film of this name a few years ago when it came out and thoroughly enjoyed it so thought I would like to know more.

There is obviously a lot more detail in this book than in the film and the film does take some artistic licence with time lines etc.


This is really great listen, and it gets the point across of the inequality that people of colour faced then, (they still do but that is another book) by just stating facts, the inequality of pay, of treatment. The quiet oppression that took place and the incredibly dignified way that these women overcame it.

I would highly recommend this book.

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Hidden Figures

Listened on audible after reading approximately 50 pages of the paperback

This is the true biogrpahy of how black women made US History. Working their talents to assist NACA and eventually NASA for the first space flight.

This was a book club choice for March 2022.

Their are some emotional subjects included in this book such as segregation, racism, sexism, world war 1 and 2, the cold War as well as death amongst other things.

The nature of this is to show the challenges that the black women of America overcame to do what they loved and were talented at. This is an important part of world history which I feel is often missed out when discussing with our younger generation. Particularly because most of the challenges faced mainly being sex and race were still challenges in the later stages of the 20th century. When they should never have been challenges!

However I found this book to be very slow going and not engaging in the slightest. I moved to audible in the hope this would rectify the problem but it didn't. I found it felt like this mainly due to how it read as a non fiction history text as opposed to a biography with the smooth flow of a novel.

Furthermore I found the book to be quite disjointed throughout for a few reasons. Firstly it skips back and forwards around time periods multiple times in a few minutes. Rather than being in chronological order. Secondly it is very name heavy. The author throws a lot of names in the book throughout but you never get to explore these people, their depth, lives and talent. Which makes it very difficult to follow and leaves you knowing no more about them than when you started. Thirdly you appear to glide over the surface of NACA and NASA. You know they are computers but know nothing more about their jobs, how racism and sexism alongside segregation made this harder. You simply know the bare minimum about the people and more about the places/ buildings. Whilst only hearing small segments about segregation mainly towards toileting and lunchtimes and not how this would effect their lives, mental health and jobs.

I really felt this book had the potential to be hugely influential and provide a huge knowledge base for those reading jt. Being able to explore the lives of these special people who made history. Unfortunately it fell short and almost like the author just wanted to show how much they had learnt in their research by throwing names in. Maybe if it had been used to tell a story it'd have done everything that it didn't do mentioned above.

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Fantastic book

What am amazing story which is even better because it's not fictional.

Thank you to the amazing women for sharing and open the gates to women of all backgrounds.

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