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392 reviews for:
Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars
Nathalia Holt
3.8 AVERAGE
392 reviews for:
Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars
Nathalia Holt
3.8 AVERAGE
I give this a 4.5
You know when you find a book that takes you into your past and helps you to want to learn more? That for me is this book. I enjoyed meeting, learning and being encouraged by the female "computers" of the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California.
My father was a computer programer, reading about the different computers, different ways of programing those electronic computers from Pin punch cards to, FORTRAN to BASIC programing language it was a blast from the past for me. I still own punch cards that my dad saved from the trash heap of change. Those punch cards served as late note pleas to allow me to enter class without a tardy, a pass from missing a day at school and gathering homework on those months that I needed to be monitored because I wasn't turning work in. Those punchcards meant to much to me and still do. I use them diligently, once they are gone, there are no more to gather... It is a reminder of a history gone.
Barby Canright was JPL's first computer before it was JPL and was just a nerdy boys rocket group consisting of 4 men and Barby. These men attended CALTECH but breathed rocketry. :0)
The women of the JPL computing division were intelligent, hard working and not equal to their male counterparts if doing other work at the lab. There in the Computing division they were top dog. They forecasted the paths of war missles, satellites and rockets to the moon. Also, helped solved design flaws (such as Appollo I's door restriction that kept Ed White, Cafferty and ???? From escaping during a horrific fire.)
These women were expected to quit their jobs when they got married and started a family. Most of the JPL ladies did as expected then returned because they were usually too smart to just throw dinner parties, take care of their children and run the daily household. They were going crazy not being involved.
Modern electronic computers were starting to come to use while the young JPL computers were adjusting to the possibility of being outsourced to the machines. These women made themselves non-expendable by being the first ones to learn the procedures, languages and foibles of those machines. Continuing their careers with advanced college learning, encouraged by each other to become faster, smarter, more reliable. These women to me were superstars!!!
Can you imagine the satisfaction that they felt knowing they were doing something that made a significant impact on the world through out the 40's to today? I am in awe of these women who paved the way for other women to be NASA engineers and Astronauts.
The Rise of the Rocket Girls might have been a little technical for the average reader, however I thoroughly enjoyed the technicality. The look into their private lives, their careers and the friendships that they held for lifetimes was refreshing and uplifting. Little girls, women of my age group (oh, heck, all women) need to hear these stories more often.
The book is a great catalyst for the continued conversation of the need for females to excel in STEM programs.
Author Nathalia Holt did a fantastic job sharing the early history of missles and Pre-NASA Rockets, through an engaging story carried over decades of success, disappointment, death and the frustration that was felt for the women working at the Pasadena Jet Propulsion Laboratory
This book has feed my desire to visit the JPL my next jaunt down to Southern California.
If you love Rockets, NASA, and Space this book will not disappoint you.
You know when you find a book that takes you into your past and helps you to want to learn more? That for me is this book. I enjoyed meeting, learning and being encouraged by the female "computers" of the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California.
My father was a computer programer, reading about the different computers, different ways of programing those electronic computers from Pin punch cards to, FORTRAN to BASIC programing language it was a blast from the past for me. I still own punch cards that my dad saved from the trash heap of change. Those punch cards served as late note pleas to allow me to enter class without a tardy, a pass from missing a day at school and gathering homework on those months that I needed to be monitored because I wasn't turning work in. Those punchcards meant to much to me and still do. I use them diligently, once they are gone, there are no more to gather... It is a reminder of a history gone.
Barby Canright was JPL's first computer before it was JPL and was just a nerdy boys rocket group consisting of 4 men and Barby. These men attended CALTECH but breathed rocketry. :0)
The women of the JPL computing division were intelligent, hard working and not equal to their male counterparts if doing other work at the lab. There in the Computing division they were top dog. They forecasted the paths of war missles, satellites and rockets to the moon. Also, helped solved design flaws (such as Appollo I's door restriction that kept Ed White, Cafferty and ???? From escaping during a horrific fire.)
These women were expected to quit their jobs when they got married and started a family. Most of the JPL ladies did as expected then returned because they were usually too smart to just throw dinner parties, take care of their children and run the daily household. They were going crazy not being involved.
Modern electronic computers were starting to come to use while the young JPL computers were adjusting to the possibility of being outsourced to the machines. These women made themselves non-expendable by being the first ones to learn the procedures, languages and foibles of those machines. Continuing their careers with advanced college learning, encouraged by each other to become faster, smarter, more reliable. These women to me were superstars!!!
Can you imagine the satisfaction that they felt knowing they were doing something that made a significant impact on the world through out the 40's to today? I am in awe of these women who paved the way for other women to be NASA engineers and Astronauts.
The Rise of the Rocket Girls might have been a little technical for the average reader, however I thoroughly enjoyed the technicality. The look into their private lives, their careers and the friendships that they held for lifetimes was refreshing and uplifting. Little girls, women of my age group (oh, heck, all women) need to hear these stories more often.
The book is a great catalyst for the continued conversation of the need for females to excel in STEM programs.
Author Nathalia Holt did a fantastic job sharing the early history of missles and Pre-NASA Rockets, through an engaging story carried over decades of success, disappointment, death and the frustration that was felt for the women working at the Pasadena Jet Propulsion Laboratory
This book has feed my desire to visit the JPL my next jaunt down to Southern California.
If you love Rockets, NASA, and Space this book will not disappoint you.
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
loved this sm perfect balance of science + narrative and very accessible. i love space
It's inspiring and mind-blowing to read about all these women who crunched the numbers, plotted rocket trajectories and tested rocket designs to finally become one of the first computer code writers. It makes me smile broadly and want to high-five the invisible hand of our old friend Irony, while thinking about the laboratory, where since 50's the policy was to hire only female.
As much as I found the American space exploration and female computers that played significant part in the process fascinating, I am rather mildly interested in JPL's ladies giggles, outfits, love stories etc... I understand though, that there are still people out there in XXI century that require explanation and proof that being a female/wife/mother and scientist/mathematician is not mutually exclusive. Moreover, it is physically and mentally possible to want to pursue the role of both and succeed in it. I know, how wild is that. And there happened to be man (rare, exceptional cases, but still), husbands to be precise, who supported that - in 50's and 60's!
So, even though I really didn't need all those "girly stories" in between, I appreciate where the author is coming from and I see her point in documenting the lives of women, who were not only pioneers in their profession, but also in their personal lives. The “rocket girls” worked outside of the home when only 20 percent of women did so, had children and returned to work, went through divorce when it was first becoming socially accepted, and witnessed the first wave of feminism, not to mention other social revolutions in the decades that spanned their careers.
So yes, we need more stories like that, the stories about the real "girl power".
As much as I found the American space exploration and female computers that played significant part in the process fascinating, I am rather mildly interested in JPL's ladies giggles, outfits, love stories etc... I understand though, that there are still people out there in XXI century that require explanation and proof that being a female/wife/mother and scientist/mathematician is not mutually exclusive. Moreover, it is physically and mentally possible to want to pursue the role of both and succeed in it. I know, how wild is that. And there happened to be man (rare, exceptional cases, but still), husbands to be precise, who supported that - in 50's and 60's!
So, even though I really didn't need all those "girly stories" in between, I appreciate where the author is coming from and I see her point in documenting the lives of women, who were not only pioneers in their profession, but also in their personal lives. The “rocket girls” worked outside of the home when only 20 percent of women did so, had children and returned to work, went through divorce when it was first becoming socially accepted, and witnessed the first wave of feminism, not to mention other social revolutions in the decades that spanned their careers.
So yes, we need more stories like that, the stories about the real "girl power".
A great book, especially for someone in Computer Science. I learned the central role that women played in the early early history of the use of computers in Science. The story covers the founding of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where the earliest experiments with rockets and rocket fuels were done in the USA. The original meaning of the word "Computer" was of a person (and in JBLs case, always a woman) who did the calculations needed for the design of rockets, rocket engines, rocket fuels, rocket trajectories, and on and on. And they weren't just adding and subtracting! No, they were advanced in math and calculus and literally solving equations needed to make these rockets work. A great book for anyone in the field.
It's well written, and generally upbeat. I enjoyed the insight to the birth and growth of JPL as much as I enjoyed the women's biographies.
I had no idea the work women put into our space program. Between [b:Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars|26030711|Rise of the Rocket Girls The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars|Nathalia Holt|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1462515796s/26030711.jpg|45959896] and [b:Hidden Figures: The Untold True Story of Four African-American Women Who Helped Launch Our Nation Into Space|30840370|Hidden Figures The Untold True Story of Four African-American Women Who Helped Launch Our Nation into Space|Margot Lee Shetterly|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1474752658s/30840370.jpg|55627110], we're finally learning that women are also responsible for exploring space and just how much they contributed. It amazes me that these women have been so overlooked in books about space now. Their fingerprints are all over our space program.
The women in Rise of the Rocket Girls contributed in large ways to our understanding of the solar system. Much of the credit is given to men in situations like these, but women had as much of a hand in it as they did. To look on JPL's website and see the bio blurb for Sue Finley is extraordinary. These women's work is still impacting the world, though most go through their day without realizing how much these women contributed. Finley, in particular, caught my attention because she's still working for JPL.
I think this book also gives proof that the US didn't just suddenly develop the ability to send a man to the moon.
As someone who didn't do so well in math in school, I am envious of these women and their contribution to science. Because of that, I know how important it is that girls are encouraged in the STEM programs.
The women in Rise of the Rocket Girls contributed in large ways to our understanding of the solar system. Much of the credit is given to men in situations like these, but women had as much of a hand in it as they did. To look on JPL's website and see the bio blurb for Sue Finley is extraordinary. These women's work is still impacting the world, though most go through their day without realizing how much these women contributed. Finley, in particular, caught my attention because she's still working for JPL.
I think this book also gives proof that the US didn't just suddenly develop the ability to send a man to the moon.
As someone who didn't do so well in math in school, I am envious of these women and their contribution to science. Because of that, I know how important it is that girls are encouraged in the STEM programs.
informative
slow-paced
This was my pick my library's reading challenge in the month of January - a book you've owned for long time but haven't read. I bought this on sale on kindle a couple years ago.
The factual content of this book was very interesting but it was so poorly written that it detracted from the overall success of the book. It was like reading a high school research paper. And not a good one.
The factual content of this book was very interesting but it was so poorly written that it detracted from the overall success of the book. It was like reading a high school research paper. And not a good one.