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Thread ID: 149926 2021-06-26 01:27:00 Have you heard of Katherine Johnson? - NASA mathematician Roscoe (6288) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1478225 2021-06-26 01:27:00 Just reading the story of Katherine Johnson, the brilliant NASA mathematician who checked the computer's computations on the trajectories of the orbits of John Glen - the first US astronaut to orbit the earth, and the computations that took Apollo to the moon. Her story is told in the film "Hidden Figures" - well worth watching.

www.newscientist.com
Roscoe (6288)
1478226 2021-06-26 05:27:00 The book 'Hidden Figures' is well worth reading too. As often is the case, the book gives more details than are in the movie. R.M. (561)
1478227 2021-06-26 07:19:00 The book 'Hidden Figures' is well worth reading too. As often is the case, the book gives more details than are in the movie.

I've ordered the book from the library on your recommendation. I found the story very compelling.
Roscoe (6288)
1478228 2021-06-26 21:39:00 Saw the movie when it came out. Well worth the look. paulw (1826)
1478229 2021-06-26 22:19:00 Yes she is now famous because of the movie....more people heard of her now.
The movie changes some things (not the maths so much), which are inaccurate.

Good enough to watch...if you're not a reader.
If you are I recommend the book.

Smart lady...and the others with her....
piroska (17583)
1478230 2021-06-28 03:44:00 Yes she is now famous because of the movie....more people heard of her now.
The movie changes some things (not the maths so much), which are inaccurate.

Good enough to watch...if you're not a reader.
If you are I recommend the book.

Smart lady...and the others with her....

I second that, Piroska! The film is excellent and even though I have not read the book, it is very often the case that the book is more thorough and more factual. "Papillon" was an outstanding example of this.
Misty (368)
1478231 2021-07-07 01:11:00 I second that, Piroska! The film is excellent and even though I have not read the book, it is very often the case that the book is more thorough and more factual. "Papillon" was an outstanding example of this.

You are right, Misty. I have watched the film and I am reading the book at the moment. The film shows the time she was at school, then from the late 50s with the beginning of the space race, whereas the book starts in WW2 which means that the women in the film that were shown as in their 20s and 30s would have been more likely in their 40s and 50s. Katherine Johnson was 102 when she died in 2020.

The only downside with the book is that it is written in American English with all the American spelling which is a little off putting.:annoyed: Apart from that it's a good read.:)
Roscoe (6288)
1478232 2021-07-07 22:11:00 The only downside with the book is that it is written in American English

I read a book recently and it was great...but reading along, wrapped up in the tale and I was jarred out by the phrase: "He span round".
Span??? SPAN??!!

To me span is a thing bridges do. He spun round.
Ugh.
piroska (17583)
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