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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
50% general JPL history, 15% general history, 15% general science lessons, 10% fanfic-like scenes involving crinoline, pantyhose, and smoothing one's hair, 5% painful transition sentences.
"While Helen was getting married, America's space program was also making it official."
No.
I feel like only 5% of this book is actually about its purported subject matter. Which, given the subject, is incredibly disappointing.
This is unlike any biography or history book I've ever read. There are no citations within the text to back up whatever the author is writing at the moment. There are literal fanfic-like scenes of the women picking out their dresses for the day. The writing is awkward and forced. Chapters are bookended by a fanfic interlude in the beginning, to set the mood I suppose, and an awkward transition at the end. Everything's done chronologically, without a very clear line of progress for the women themselves, only JPL. The only names I can recall are Barbara, Helen and Sue, probably because they featured most prominently at the end. Everything's jumbled up together with passing references to this girl and that, barely more than a paragraph all together for some. Interesting and important facts are glossed over, not the least of which being an actual Nazi working at JPL, which earned maybe two sentences and the rest of the book was about his great contributions. Really, none of the women had anything more to say on the subject than basically "yeah, it was a little awkward"?
The book is just a real disappointment. I don't recommend it. It was painful to read and I don't want any of my friends to slog through that.
"While Helen was getting married, America's space program was also making it official."
No.
I feel like only 5% of this book is actually about its purported subject matter. Which, given the subject, is incredibly disappointing.
This is unlike any biography or history book I've ever read. There are no citations within the text to back up whatever the author is writing at the moment. There are literal fanfic-like scenes of the women picking out their dresses for the day. The writing is awkward and forced. Chapters are bookended by a fanfic interlude in the beginning, to set the mood I suppose, and an awkward transition at the end. Everything's done chronologically, without a very clear line of progress for the women themselves, only JPL. The only names I can recall are Barbara, Helen and Sue, probably because they featured most prominently at the end. Everything's jumbled up together with passing references to this girl and that, barely more than a paragraph all together for some. Interesting and important facts are glossed over, not the least of which being an actual Nazi working at JPL, which earned maybe two sentences and the rest of the book was about his great contributions. Really, none of the women had anything more to say on the subject than basically "yeah, it was a little awkward"?
The book is just a real disappointment. I don't recommend it. It was painful to read and I don't want any of my friends to slog through that.
I was reading this for a history project and found it so hard to get through and I didn’t end up reading much of it. Luckily I changed my topic so goodbye to this book. The author was trying to turn their history into a story but it was basically just listing facts and the writing was so bland. I’m glad I changed my topic.
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Content was great, but the writing didn't do it any favors. There were so many interesting tidbits that just didn't flow well together. There were too many characters to keep track of. Sometimes personal details provided color and interest and context and sometimes they just felt condescending. I wish the writing had been more mature.
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
informative
medium-paced
I really liked this. It was a relatively quick read, but it was super interesting to learn about the progression of both the space missions and the tech the women used.
This book is an inspiration. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in early space exploration and any young woman with a desire to excel in math, science, or engineering. The women this book tells the story of are amazing role models for women in STEM or any other male dominated field.
A fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the country's efforts toward rocket propulsion and space exploration, told from the point of view of some of the key women who helped make it possible. Not the most beautiful prose, but the content is interesting and well-researched.
Sin palabras, me encantó.
Quise llorar mas de una vez por las injusticias que sufrian o simplemente porque me sentí cercana a la situación, trabajo o a ellas.
Le di una gran responsabilidad a este libro, soy una estudiante de ingenieria en sistemas que le ha costado mucho llevar la situación de la cuarentena y no desanimarme por ello, le di la responsabilidad a este libro de volver a motivarme... y lo hizo.
Ellas fueron pioneras de la programación, sus puestos cambiaron de nombres de computadoras a programadoras a ingenieras y eso marca una diferencia.
Si eres una mujer que aspira a ser ingeniera, o simplemente una mujer que quiere estudiar un campo dominado mayormente por hombres te recomiendo este libro, no vas a ser la misma despues de leerlo.
Este libro cuenta datos de las vidas personales, de ambitos generales, descubrimientos tanto de la NASA como de avances tecnologicos, un libro que tiene todo lo que promete.
Esta reseña es un desorden pero acabo de terminarlo y aun siento ese sentimiento familiar que todos tenemos al leer un libro que en serio te gustó.
Recomendado 1000000000000000/5
Quise llorar mas de una vez por las injusticias que sufrian o simplemente porque me sentí cercana a la situación, trabajo o a ellas.
Le di una gran responsabilidad a este libro, soy una estudiante de ingenieria en sistemas que le ha costado mucho llevar la situación de la cuarentena y no desanimarme por ello, le di la responsabilidad a este libro de volver a motivarme... y lo hizo.
Ellas fueron pioneras de la programación, sus puestos cambiaron de nombres de computadoras a programadoras a ingenieras y eso marca una diferencia.
Si eres una mujer que aspira a ser ingeniera, o simplemente una mujer que quiere estudiar un campo dominado mayormente por hombres te recomiendo este libro, no vas a ser la misma despues de leerlo.
Este libro cuenta datos de las vidas personales, de ambitos generales, descubrimientos tanto de la NASA como de avances tecnologicos, un libro que tiene todo lo que promete.
Esta reseña es un desorden pero acabo de terminarlo y aun siento ese sentimiento familiar que todos tenemos al leer un libro que en serio te gustó.
Recomendado 1000000000000000/5
This book combines so many things that are passions of mine -- women's history, space exploration, copious footnotes.
It's an account of the women (human computers) who did so much to make the Jet Propulsion Lab what it is. Holt interviewed many of the women and members of their families, and does a good job intertwining the stories of their professional and personal lives.
It was almost happenstance that women played a key role from the beginning of rocket development and space exploration, just before World War II. JPL began as a college club with a small handful of members, but they were close friends with a young married couple, Richard and Barbara Canright. When the club got a research grant and developed into a business, the Canrights were their first two employees. Barbara, a math whiz, worked as a "computer", doing all of the mathematical computations by hand.
It was not happenstance that women came to dominate the computing department at JPL as the company grew. It was some of the best paying work available for bright, math-oriented young women. The pioneers in the department made sure to seek out other women, mentoring them and finding ways to make their job work for them, even with the birth of babies (something that usually ended a woman's career back in the day.) JPL was groundbreaking as well in integrating the workforce. Janez Lawson was the first African American woman hired in the department and one of the first to learn to program what we now think of as computers. Helen Ling, a Chinese American, rose to head the department for many years and made great efforts to scout and mentor promising women, sending them for training as engineers. A quote from the book: "While protesters were demanding equal rights for women across the country, the women at JPL had created their own equality." By the 1990s, a woman, Sylvia Miller, was in charge of the Mars program.
Things I didn't know until I read this book: In the 1940's an interest in rocketry was considered quack science in a lot of circles. The first Mars images made it back to earth only days after Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. The Voyager was secretly programmed and built to do a much larger mission than had been approved by Congress, just in case..and the planning paid off, as its early success led them to approve the plans that had already been made behind their backs anyway.
A fascinating and inspiring read.
It's an account of the women (human computers) who did so much to make the Jet Propulsion Lab what it is. Holt interviewed many of the women and members of their families, and does a good job intertwining the stories of their professional and personal lives.
It was almost happenstance that women played a key role from the beginning of rocket development and space exploration, just before World War II. JPL began as a college club with a small handful of members, but they were close friends with a young married couple, Richard and Barbara Canright. When the club got a research grant and developed into a business, the Canrights were their first two employees. Barbara, a math whiz, worked as a "computer", doing all of the mathematical computations by hand.
It was not happenstance that women came to dominate the computing department at JPL as the company grew. It was some of the best paying work available for bright, math-oriented young women. The pioneers in the department made sure to seek out other women, mentoring them and finding ways to make their job work for them, even with the birth of babies (something that usually ended a woman's career back in the day.) JPL was groundbreaking as well in integrating the workforce. Janez Lawson was the first African American woman hired in the department and one of the first to learn to program what we now think of as computers. Helen Ling, a Chinese American, rose to head the department for many years and made great efforts to scout and mentor promising women, sending them for training as engineers. A quote from the book: "While protesters were demanding equal rights for women across the country, the women at JPL had created their own equality." By the 1990s, a woman, Sylvia Miller, was in charge of the Mars program.
Things I didn't know until I read this book: In the 1940's an interest in rocketry was considered quack science in a lot of circles. The first Mars images made it back to earth only days after Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. The Voyager was secretly programmed and built to do a much larger mission than had been approved by Congress, just in case..and the planning paid off, as its early success led them to approve the plans that had already been made behind their backs anyway.
A fascinating and inspiring read.