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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
An interesting read. A glimpse into the beginnings of JPL and the female computers who did the calculations to get our rockets and probes into space.
After watching "Hidden Figures" and liking it but wanting more, I found this book. And I really enjoyed it. I loved reading about their experiences in all aspects of their lives - this was a different time (a "Miss Guided Missile Pageant" at work??!!) with different expectations and they were bucking the system not only by working jobs that had traditionally been considered jobs for men, but working after having children, being visionaries and in general being independent. I was touched by the friendships they formed with the other women they worked with, their struggles to balance their professional lives and their personal lives - this really rang true to me. Being a woman that works in science I've been searching for a girl power STEM book that doesn't minimize the contribution of women but also celebrates them being women... I've tried reading a few more contemporary books ("Lab Girl" being one) and I can't relate to those women at all, but I found this book to resonate to what I know and feel from my own personal experience (the past isn't so different from the present!). We as a country owe these woman for their contributions to our national defense efforts as well as space exploration, but we as women need to honor them for paving the way for us today just by doing what they loved.
This is the predecessor to Hidden Figures, as well as the companion piece. The west coast version if you will. I enjoyed this one a lot more - it was more personal and even the technical parts felt a lot less cumbersome than in Hidden Figures. Really enjoyed reading about these women and how they defied the odds in an era that didn't want women to work after having children and especially not in STEM fields. Makes me proud of what I do!!
There were some really fun anecdotes and great stories about the first female engineers of JPL, although the writing was only decent.
This book quickly covered many valuable contributions in the STEM and space exploration field. Unfortunately, I feel the author tried to address too much and in too short of a book. Further, I feel she could have done better incorporating the "female-ness" elements, such as dress and marriage.
This is an interesting look into a little-known (though just about to be Hollywood blockbuster) story of female 'computers' working at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL). The computers, as they were known, were people who computed the calculations needed for the complex engineering and scientific space missions undertaken by the US Government and later NASA. Starting with rocket design and moving to trajectories, interplanetary communications, orbits, scientific studies of atmospheres, and exploring other planets, these women were the backbone of the success (and fixers of the failures) of those early years of space exploration. More importantly, they were also the first women brought into the space program, the trailblazers for future generations of scientists, engineers and computer programmers who work for NASA today (and the JPL is still the highest employer of women within NASA today). This is their story, laid out by decade, running through a laundry list of space missions and milestones from pre-Sputnik to the Mars rovers.
The book is detailed and interesting, going through both the personal and professional lives of the women involved. Broken into decades, it flows naturally through the space race and into the era of scientific exploration. The downside is that there are just a few too many characters and missions, making it hard to keep track of who is who and who is working on what. This is not helped in the early chapters by the proliferation of nicknames, some giving the ladies men's names, some giving the men ladies' names. The focus on the homelife in the early years also felt like a drag. I wanted to learn about the science they were doing, not the struggles of raising children or wondering if their husbands would like their new dresses. I know, this is the classic story of the struggles of women in second wave feminism and pushing on a closed door (let alone a glass ceiling), but the book was marketed a bit more like a focus on their work not their home lives. Can't have one without the other I suppose, but I was more engaged with the book when the focus was on the science and innovations, and when later in the book the focus became less on the personal than the professional.
In terms of an audio book, the narration wasn't my favourite. The narrator was slow, had a few mis-pronunciations, and seemed to be more excited about the relationships than the science. It could have just been the way the old-time nicknames and 1950's domestic stories come across, but it sounded like an out of date 1950s sitcom.
Overall I'd recommend it to someone interested in the space program or in the role of women in early science institutions. But perhaps get the paperback, not the audio book.
The book is detailed and interesting, going through both the personal and professional lives of the women involved. Broken into decades, it flows naturally through the space race and into the era of scientific exploration. The downside is that there are just a few too many characters and missions, making it hard to keep track of who is who and who is working on what. This is not helped in the early chapters by the proliferation of nicknames, some giving the ladies men's names, some giving the men ladies' names. The focus on the homelife in the early years also felt like a drag. I wanted to learn about the science they were doing, not the struggles of raising children or wondering if their husbands would like their new dresses. I know, this is the classic story of the struggles of women in second wave feminism and pushing on a closed door (let alone a glass ceiling), but the book was marketed a bit more like a focus on their work not their home lives. Can't have one without the other I suppose, but I was more engaged with the book when the focus was on the science and innovations, and when later in the book the focus became less on the personal than the professional.
In terms of an audio book, the narration wasn't my favourite. The narrator was slow, had a few mis-pronunciations, and seemed to be more excited about the relationships than the science. It could have just been the way the old-time nicknames and 1950's domestic stories come across, but it sounded like an out of date 1950s sitcom.
Overall I'd recommend it to someone interested in the space program or in the role of women in early science institutions. But perhaps get the paperback, not the audio book.
Did anyone else find it odd that there was no mention of Eleanor Frances after the prologue?
I so desperately wanted this to be a 5-star book, but to be anywhere close to that, it desperately needs major editing.
Pluses - the brilliant computers/women of JPL have contributed significantly to the advances in military weaponry and space exploration, from the 1940s through today and they have mentored many other brilliant women. - the book does a fair job of illustrating the significantly limited opportunities women generally had to contribute, and how the opportunities have grown over time.
Minuses - this book is more a history of JPL & NASA than a real focus on these women identified in the title. - There are what feel like "random" sentences about a woman's personal life/situation sprinkled throughout. - The way the technology is written into the book is likely to discourage readers who have not yet achieved enough education/knowledge to follow it. - Even though there are very detailed technical explanations, it is often unclear of the actual contributions these women made.
I admire and am inspired by the STEM women who are leading the way in many industries. This book; however, doesn't really give them their due.
Pluses - the brilliant computers/women of JPL have contributed significantly to the advances in military weaponry and space exploration, from the 1940s through today and they have mentored many other brilliant women. - the book does a fair job of illustrating the significantly limited opportunities women generally had to contribute, and how the opportunities have grown over time.
Minuses - this book is more a history of JPL & NASA than a real focus on these women identified in the title. - There are what feel like "random" sentences about a woman's personal life/situation sprinkled throughout. - The way the technology is written into the book is likely to discourage readers who have not yet achieved enough education/knowledge to follow it. - Even though there are very detailed technical explanations, it is often unclear of the actual contributions these women made.
I admire and am inspired by the STEM women who are leading the way in many industries. This book; however, doesn't really give them their due.
Enjoyable and interesting read. Everything about this book appealed to my inner child, who desperately wanted to go to space. Excuse me while I spend the next day or so obsessively looking at pictures of Saturn and watching Hidden Figures. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed Hidden Figures or is interested in the history of women in science.