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A review by sassmistress
A Computer Called Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Helped Put America on the Moon by Suzanne Slade
3.75
The pictures are good, and it's factual but story-driven and mentions math concepts (like a parabola) but isn't intimidating. I like the progression of concepts from counting to geometry, and the "Katherine knew that was wrong--as wrong as ___" that gets slightly harder each time. I loved learning that John Glenn trusted her calculations so much that he wouldn't fly until she double-checked everyone's math. It does a fairly good job of explaining the risks, but not the stakes--they explain what makes the flight path calculations so difficult, and how little room for error there is, but the moment of tension is a single-page spread of countdown to lift-off showing her nervousness, and then the book ends with "Four days later, as Neil Armstrong took his first steps on the moon... Katherine smiled, and began to count." I feel like the significance of the moment could have been more powerfully communicated. But as a math-y biography, it does a pretty good job!
Rating lowered some because the socio-historical content is super preachy--it tells instead of shows what the experience was like. For example:
"Meanwhile, most everyone in town was arguing about 'right' and 'wrong.' Some people said it was wrong for children with different skin colors to attend the same school. Others said it wasn't right for women to work at the same jobs as men. Their arguments seemed wrong to Katherine--as wrong as 5 + 5 = 12. She believed everyone should be treated the same. So she kept working hard in school and dreamed of a future when all people would have equal rights."
and:
"Back then, people said women could only be teachers or nurses. Katherine believed that was wrong--as wrong as 10 - 5 = 3. She believed women could be anything--scientists, lawyers, or mathematicians. So she set out to prove it!"
and:
"But Katherine wasn't like the other women. She asked questions. Lots of questions! [...] The men engineers noticed the woman who asked intelligent questions and how quickly she solved difficult math problems. So they asked Katherine to join their space team. Its mission--send America's first astronaut into space.
Katherine said yes! Then she discovered that women weren't allowed to attend the group's meetings. She knew this was wrong--as wrong as 5 x 5 = 20. She asked if she could go.
"Women don't ever go to those," the engineers replied.
"Is there a law against it?" Katherine asked.
"No."
So Katherine showed up at the next meeting--ready to work."
My kid enjoyed it.
Rating lowered some because the socio-historical content is super preachy--it tells instead of shows what the experience was like. For example:
"Meanwhile, most everyone in town was arguing about 'right' and 'wrong.' Some people said it was wrong for children with different skin colors to attend the same school. Others said it wasn't right for women to work at the same jobs as men. Their arguments seemed wrong to Katherine--as wrong as 5 + 5 = 12. She believed everyone should be treated the same. So she kept working hard in school and dreamed of a future when all people would have equal rights."
and:
"Back then, people said women could only be teachers or nurses. Katherine believed that was wrong--as wrong as 10 - 5 = 3. She believed women could be anything--scientists, lawyers, or mathematicians. So she set out to prove it!"
and:
"But Katherine wasn't like the other women. She asked questions. Lots of questions! [...] The men engineers noticed the woman who asked intelligent questions and how quickly she solved difficult math problems. So they asked Katherine to join their space team. Its mission--send America's first astronaut into space.
Katherine said yes! Then she discovered that women weren't allowed to attend the group's meetings. She knew this was wrong--as wrong as 5 x 5 = 20. She asked if she could go.
"Women don't ever go to those," the engineers replied.
"Is there a law against it?" Katherine asked.
"No."
So Katherine showed up at the next meeting--ready to work."
My kid enjoyed it.