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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 love the way that this is told. More as a story than just a recitation of the facts. The story of these women is so fascinating and everything that they’ve done is so impressive. I found myself so in all of all of their accomplishments. As a female engineer this was very inspiring
emotional
informative
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
I love that this book was written, and that the stories of these women are being told.
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Absolutely fascinating, riveting and important book. It's the story of women working at JPL from the 40s through the present. First employed as "computers" but in reality doing engineering tasks, they eventually formed an important core of JPL and to this day their work forms an important part of the backbone of space exploration technology.
Very much recommended for anyone interested in the space program. It's gratifying that the author was able to capture these stories while all of these people are still living. Truly a book well past due and superbly written.
Very much recommended for anyone interested in the space program. It's gratifying that the author was able to capture these stories while all of these people are still living. Truly a book well past due and superbly written.
I got this book because it was the book that Mary Robinette Kowal used in writing the Lady Astronaut series. It is an interesting title that seeks to tell the story of the so-called "human computers" - the women whose handwritten calculations (and, later, computer code) were essential for the beginning of space explorations. I liked the book, but I don't like the for the majority of the book the style doesn't even acknowledge the existence of an author.
This style is reminiscent of omniscient narration in fiction, and Holt fails to acknowledge the sources of the stories she tells. When the internal thoughts of a computer were told to me, I kept wondering "Was this detail taken from an interview, or did the author add her fancy to it" and I never got an answer. I have trouble trusting a nonfiction, especially if the author fails to give me a satisfactory look at their research.
This style is reminiscent of omniscient narration in fiction, and Holt fails to acknowledge the sources of the stories she tells. When the internal thoughts of a computer were told to me, I kept wondering "Was this detail taken from an interview, or did the author add her fancy to it" and I never got an answer. I have trouble trusting a nonfiction, especially if the author fails to give me a satisfactory look at their research.
From this point forward, it will be my not-so-secret dream to be just like the women of JPL
this was super interesting, but it was hard to get through. I appreciated all the personal info of the women's lives throughout the book. It made it a bit easier to read through with all the scientific language. it was a bit weird to me that the author focused so much on the women's clothing and their "giddiness" while (I guess) the idea behind the book was to highlight the seriousness of what these women have achieved for themselves and our planet.