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vintage_b's review against another edition
5.0
I sadly had not known the story of these four women before reading this. To be honest, I do not know much about my country’s history regarding monumental moments such as the space race. This biography helped me understand and made me want to learn more. The strength these four women had, as well as all the women in their various departments, to not only speak up and show their worth in a time where not only women but black women were seen as less, was inspiring. I highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in learning more about the internal workings that allowed us to not only launch into space but also land on the moon. Those beginning calculations helped shape and progress so much more in the world.
mrslankford's review against another edition
5.0
This book is not what I was expecting, and I loved it. I thought it would be more of a novel, and it's much more of a nonfictional retelling with biographies as part of the make-up. But, most importantly, I thought it was the story of some successful black women, and it is. However, it is so much MORE. It's the story of women, period. It's the story of the men in their lives, both personal and professional. It is the story of their children. It is the story of 20th century America; how far we have come, and how far we have to go. It was utterly fascinating and inspirational, and one of the most impressively researched books I have ever read. I would, and will, be recommending this book for years to come.
ekruzel's review against another edition
2.0
This had the potential to be an incredible book, worthy of the women of Langley.
This wasn't that book.
There was very little here about the actual women, their inner lives, motivations or actually how they went about their work.
Only in the epilogue did the author fill in some of these biographies -- which was easily my favorite part of this book. To place it as afterthought reinforced how unfocused and unsatisfyingly the women were addressed throughout the entirety of this book.
If anyone can recommend a proper bio of Dot Vaughn or Katherine Johnson, please share!
This wasn't that book.
There was very little here about the actual women, their inner lives, motivations or actually how they went about their work.
Only in the epilogue did the author fill in some of these biographies -- which was easily my favorite part of this book. To place it as afterthought reinforced how unfocused and unsatisfyingly the women were addressed throughout the entirety of this book.
If anyone can recommend a proper bio of Dot Vaughn or Katherine Johnson, please share!
ecp2115's review against another edition
3.0
This book was certainly interesting and fascinating. Though, the writing style and the length of the novel made it a bit tough to finish. This might say more about my preference of fiction over non-fiction, though.
teigenbereadin's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
2.0
I really wanted to like this book, especially because I'm the one who recommended it for book club, but I really just couldn't get into it. It reads like a textbook most of the time, but then gives you closer looks at the main characters' lives and then backs right out again to a broad sweeping narrative of the overarching history. The writing also made it hard to track the characters and the author often introduces characters in one paragraph that you will never read again. There were many parts like that that felt like meaningless learning of characters and details about planes or wind tunnels. I would probably not recommend this book to someone, unless it's literally for homework.
astridsbooknook's review against another edition
3.0
Hidden Figures tells the untold story of how America's space race was accomplished with the help of black female mathematicians and engineers. Thinking the book will be better, I eagerly dove into the book, hoping to get a fuller picture of what these incredible women went through.
While the story was inspiring, the writing was very dry and at times sleep inducing. Where the movie focuses on three of the women computers, as they were called, the book talks about the computers as a whole and several women specifically, including the women the movie focused on and some the movie never mentions. The book gave us a deeper understanding of these women's lives, from a young age through college to when they joined NASA. We got a sense of the time period as well, with Jim Crow and segregation being talked about matter of factly.
The most interesting part of the book was seeing the differences in how the three women were portrayed and what actually transpired versus their movie counterparts. In both versions, these women faced inconceivable pressures and obstacles. The movie however takes huge liberties with how the women were treated by their white colleagues at NASA and emphasizes the inherent racism of the time period whereas the book chooses to focus more on the women's achievements.
Overall, the book was great in showing you how instrumental these women were in getting America to touch the stars but could have done a better job of keeping the story engaging and interesting.
While the story was inspiring, the writing was very dry and at times sleep inducing. Where the movie focuses on three of the women computers, as they were called, the book talks about the computers as a whole and several women specifically, including the women the movie focused on and some the movie never mentions. The book gave us a deeper understanding of these women's lives, from a young age through college to when they joined NASA. We got a sense of the time period as well, with Jim Crow and segregation being talked about matter of factly.
The most interesting part of the book was seeing the differences in how the three women were portrayed and what actually transpired versus their movie counterparts. In both versions, these women faced inconceivable pressures and obstacles. The movie however takes huge liberties with how the women were treated by their white colleagues at NASA and emphasizes the inherent racism of the time period whereas the book chooses to focus more on the women's achievements.
Overall, the book was great in showing you how instrumental these women were in getting America to touch the stars but could have done a better job of keeping the story engaging and interesting.