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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
The story, for the most part, of the rocket/space program at JPL. The Rocket Girls are human "computers" that preformed ALL the calculations (prior to the invention of computers) that were needed to get rockets in the air, satellites to circle the earth, the Apollo Astronauts to the moon, and so much more. Fascinating and inspiring.
adventurous
inspiring
medium-paced
Welcome to the #greatspaceread! Similar read to Hidden Figures which is one of my favorites. I loved all the details about these women who played such an important part in our space race at the Jet Propulsion Lab. One thing that I found especially interesting is that at one point, when the women had been working as computers for so long, they were then considered engineers - which they probably should have been considered in the first place. Also, the manager of the computers always made sure that she hired more intelligent and hardworking women. JPL has consistently employed more women since the 40s than any other space related workplace.
I enjoyed this book and I think Holt did a good job in explaining this chapter in the history of science and technology to a popular audience. The stories of the women at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) needed to be told, as they were an integral part of the Space Program in the United States.
I had some issues with the book, however. I believe that the last section (1970s-today) was rushed compared to the sections on the 1950s and 1960s. There was too much information packed into that chapter, and her transitions from the 1970s to 1980s were not clear, and she did not explain the end of the Cold War and how if affected the Space Program in sufficient detail. This may be due to Holt's lack of background in the humanities.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about women in science!
Note: This book was read as part of Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge for the "nonfiction book about technology" category.
I had some issues with the book, however. I believe that the last section (1970s-today) was rushed compared to the sections on the 1950s and 1960s. There was too much information packed into that chapter, and her transitions from the 1970s to 1980s were not clear, and she did not explain the end of the Cold War and how if affected the Space Program in sufficient detail. This may be due to Holt's lack of background in the humanities.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about women in science!
Note: This book was read as part of Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge for the "nonfiction book about technology" category.
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
DNF. I thought the story was interesting, but did not think it was very well written.
After watching the movie Hidden Figures, I was ready to plunge into some reading about women and space -- and having heard that Hidden Figures (the book) was a little dry (though I still think I'll give it a shot), I reached for this one instead.
I really enjoyed the broad scope and clear writing of this book. I learned a LOT. The author began this book with the very earliest days of rocketry -- a bunch of Caltech college boys dubbed the Suicide Squad, based on their explosive hobby. Soon, the group got more funding and a real name: JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory). In a little canyon in Pasadena, the lab first developed and tested rockets used for military might; then, the rockets exploded into space. I'm fascinated by the exponential rate in which the technology developed: it took years for the rockets to break through earth's atmosphere, but only a few more years before they were circling other planets. Computing power was the same: after cranking out calculations for years and then having monstrous-sized computers filling entire rooms, microprocessors made of silicon made computing by hand a thing of the past.
I find space exploration particularly fascinating, so I loved getting a whole run-down in one book. I finally have a basic understanding and timeline for all the missions I'd heard about (Apollo, yes, but also Mariner and Viking and Voyager and Magellan and Spirit and Opportunity). It was interesting to read about both their failures and successes.
Central to the author's story are the women who were instrumental in getting these rockets into space. If you've seen Hidden Figures, you know part of the story: these women were hired as computers (people who compute) before machines could do that work. They plugged in the math, calculating the trajectories, and then became the first programmers, as well. Many of these women became engineers, critical to 21st century space exploration. I really enjoyed learning about them, though admittedly it was a little tricky to keep track of who was who -- there were so many of them! (That's a good thing!)
This was just a little bit slow-going for me in places (possibly more indicative of my own life than the merits of this book, though admittedly I didn't care much for the military section ... probably much like the JPL engineers themselves). And since this book was so broad in its scope, covering 50+ years of history, I was left with a lot of questions. Overall, though, I really enjoyed this book for all I learned, and I'm eager to find more well-written space-y books!
I really enjoyed the broad scope and clear writing of this book. I learned a LOT. The author began this book with the very earliest days of rocketry -- a bunch of Caltech college boys dubbed the Suicide Squad, based on their explosive hobby. Soon, the group got more funding and a real name: JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory). In a little canyon in Pasadena, the lab first developed and tested rockets used for military might; then, the rockets exploded into space. I'm fascinated by the exponential rate in which the technology developed: it took years for the rockets to break through earth's atmosphere, but only a few more years before they were circling other planets. Computing power was the same: after cranking out calculations for years and then having monstrous-sized computers filling entire rooms, microprocessors made of silicon made computing by hand a thing of the past.
I find space exploration particularly fascinating, so I loved getting a whole run-down in one book. I finally have a basic understanding and timeline for all the missions I'd heard about (Apollo, yes, but also Mariner and Viking and Voyager and Magellan and Spirit and Opportunity). It was interesting to read about both their failures and successes.
Central to the author's story are the women who were instrumental in getting these rockets into space. If you've seen Hidden Figures, you know part of the story: these women were hired as computers (people who compute) before machines could do that work. They plugged in the math, calculating the trajectories, and then became the first programmers, as well. Many of these women became engineers, critical to 21st century space exploration. I really enjoyed learning about them, though admittedly it was a little tricky to keep track of who was who -- there were so many of them! (That's a good thing!)
This was just a little bit slow-going for me in places (possibly more indicative of my own life than the merits of this book, though admittedly I didn't care much for the military section ... probably much like the JPL engineers themselves). And since this book was so broad in its scope, covering 50+ years of history, I was left with a lot of questions. Overall, though, I really enjoyed this book for all I learned, and I'm eager to find more well-written space-y books!
Very interesting subject matter obviously, but the writing reads like a middle school level biography. Overall very enjoyable but the writing style was a bit off putting.
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced
This is a rather quick gallop through around 70 years of JPL history. I liked the focus on the women and the insight on how the job, job requirements and qualifications changed over time.
I also in general liked the discussion of the women's private lives, the challenges and the changes over time. But the author took a lot of liberties in interpreting the women's feeling and embelished the descriptions of the private lives ("the wind brushed against her cheeks" - how would you know that after 60 years?). These embelishments got on my nerves after a while and blew up the story unnecessarily.
However, my biggest problem is with the fact that Werner von Braun is portraited as such a great character, his Nazi history is glossed over. That made me very uncomfortable.
I also in general liked the discussion of the women's private lives, the challenges and the changes over time. But the author took a lot of liberties in interpreting the women's feeling and embelished the descriptions of the private lives ("the wind brushed against her cheeks" - how would you know that after 60 years?). These embelishments got on my nerves after a while and blew up the story unnecessarily.
However, my biggest problem is with the fact that Werner von Braun is portraited as such a great character, his Nazi history is glossed over. That made me very uncomfortable.
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced