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travelswithcharlie's review against another edition
Dry. Maybe I will continue when I'm in the mood again but I don't think it will be soon.
heathercottledillon's review against another edition
4.0
This is a fascinating look into the lives of the women who have worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory from its inception in the 1940s until today. Despite my interest in NASA and the history of space program, I didn't know much about JPL and was blown away by the stories of the women who were doing such important work at a time when women were not encouraged to have careers at all, much less careers in science. I also thought it was really interesting to learn about how things worked in the initial development of satellites and rockets. It's incredible that all the math was done by hand in those days, and amazing that it was primarily women who were doing the calculations considering the attitude society had about women in science at the time. Nathalia Holt does a wonderful job of weaving the individual women's stories with the details of JPL and the work they were doing there. It makes for a fascinating book that provides a lot of fun information with a human interest element as well.
erikajay's review against another edition
3.0
I feel like this book was pretty awkward in the writing and constantly switching between the women’s lives and the JPL projects. But the overall story is really interesting!
I am amazed by the projects these women worked on - and by calculating everything by hand! It would have been so weird to grow up and be working in a tech field when tech was brand new.
I am amazed by the projects these women worked on - and by calculating everything by hand! It would have been so weird to grow up and be working in a tech field when tech was brand new.
bookph1le's review against another edition
5.0
This was such a fantastic book about a subject that's been neglected for far too long. I was so glad to see these women get their due at long last, as their contributions to the space program have been overlooked and gone unsung--I knew nothing about this aspect of space exploration at all. The book is a tribute to women's perseverance and determination, and a fitting salute to some of the women who paved the way for today's professional women.
boogiewoogiesheep's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
3.5
soniagracelm's review
3.0
I loved learning about the incredible group of human computers working at JPL in the early days, but I had trouble with the author's writing style. She obviously researched each woman heavily, but adds details of what they were thinking or feeling that feel contrived. She also spends a disproportionate amount of time talking about their appearances, without ever getting in depth enough with any single woman to make it seem more than superficial. The book was also badly organized, with a slow start and rapid finish that glossed over some of the more recent NASA achievements. For example, the Mars Rovers barely got any time, while the very early days of JPL got multiple chapters, before NASA existed. Overall an interesting and informative story, but could have been better organized and more detailed.