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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
informative
medium-paced
Well researched and interesting - and, more about the diversity would have been appreciated. A lot of information that I did not know and I do recommend it.
Although I did not like this book. And I did finish it. I gave it 2 stars. I feel that is well researched and had basic language that I was able to understand so 2 stars. One of problems of this book is the title. It should be called JPL and how it got us to the moon and beyond. The author mentioned JPL in every other sentence. Which was nauseating. When it did mention the women the author mentioned their looks; what they wore and how they want to get married. I felt disappointed because I thought she should of attempted to write about Eleanor Francis Helin. Which I thought this is what it was going to be about. Why did she mention her connection between her daughter and Helin. I know she died but I’m sure someone was alive that knew Helin. Another problem was it did not talk about the struggles these women went through. I’m sure it was not all roses. She made it seem that everyone got along and no problems. These amazing women of different backgrounds and ethnicity worked along side white males that were educated and I’m sure there was prejudices and problems. How did they solve the problems. Also some of the women didn’t have college education but young women who were exceptional at math. Are you telling me no problems between the women. When problems or issues were mentioned divorce, pregnancy, low pay author just skimmed over. How did these women feel when they had to participate in beauty pageants. What??? If someone wants a simple explanation of rockets are connected space this is a book you should read. Forget about this book as about a group of women who changed the world using their brain. It should be pro STEM but it’s not.
emotional
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
Could've dealt with a little less of the domestic-related fluff, but it was still neat to learn how significant women's contributions were to the development of the space program.
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
This is a fascinating look at the women who were there before the space program really began. The women began working as "computers" writing out all the equations themselves, but they continued to prove relevant when they also learned how to write computer code. The women supervisors hired women almost exclusively and encouraged them to get advanced degrees. In a time when many women stopped working when they got married or pregnant, many of these women came back after their children were born, and several worked there for 30 plus years. There's a lot of technical information here and a lot of characters, but if you can see past that it's a great story.
I really enjoyed this book and wanted to give it four stars, but I thought Holt could have dig deeper into the issues of gender equity in this book--there were hints here and there about harassment, but they were never addressed. I loved the science and the face that the end of the book discussed briefly the Juno mission, which reached Jupiter as I finished the book!
You know, when focusing on the scientific achievements of women you don't constantly have to reaffirm their femininity by continuously focussing on their hair, clothes, figure, children, and marriage. A feminist book presented through a very anti-feminist perspective.