Katherine Johnson – an inspiring mathematician who inadvertently challenged our views of gender and race
I was very sorry to hear of the passing of Katherine Johnson, yesterday. She was a female, African-American mathematician who worked for NASA and was an integral member of the team there in the 1950s and 1960s, when the first American astronauts went into space. She calculated rocket trajectories and the orbit of the Earth for Nasa’s early space missions. Her calculations were vital for ensuring these astronauts were able to return to Earth.
For more information, here are a few links you may like to explore.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2gCsxUGkNs Biopic about Katherine Johnson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EiZe6WONWY Hidden Figures – 3 African-American women who worked at NASA
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-51619848
I loved the film, ‘Hidden Figures’ and was sad to hear of her death. I was pleased, though, that she obviously lived a long, fulfilling life and made many positive changes.