Counting the Stars
The Story of Katherine Johnson, NASA Mathematician
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
“A detail-rich picture book.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Straightforward and inviting.” —School Library Journal
From award-winning author Lesa Cline-Ransome and acclaimed illustrator Raúl Colón comes the sensitive, informative, and inspiring picture book biography of the remarkable mathematician Katherine Johnson, one of the NASA “human computers” whose work was critical to the first US space launch.
Before John Glenn orbited the Earth or astronauts walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as “human computers” used their knowledge, pencils, adding machines, and writing paper to calculate the orbital mechanics needed to launch spacecraft. Katherine Johnson was one of these mathematicians who used trajectories and complex equations to chart the space program. Even as Virginia’s Jim Crow laws were in place in the early 1950s, Katherine worked analyzing data at the NACA (later NASA) Langley laboratory.
In 1962, as NASA prepared for the orbital mission of John Glenn, Katherine Johnson was called upon and John Glenn said “get the girl” (Katherine Johnson) to run the numbers by hand to chart the complexity of the orbital flight. He knew that his flight couldn’t work without her unique skills.
President Barack Obama awarded Katherine Johnson the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 and her incredible life inspired the Oscar-nominated film Hidden Figures. Get to know this incredible and inspirational woman with this beautifully illustrated picture book from an award-winning duo.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Cline-Ransome's picture book biography pays tribute to African-American math prodigy Katherine Johnson, who soared past societal barriers to become one of NASA's celebrated human computers. In long text blocks, the narrative underlines Johnson's mathematical prowess and natural inquisitiveness ("Why? What? How?"), focusing on her early life (counting stars, skipping grades, earning a full college scholarship at 15), marriage and parenthood, and her career at Langley (early assignments, work amid the space race, persuading higher-ups that she should attend meetings) up through calculating the trajectory of astronaut John Glenn's 1962 Earth orbit. Col n's trademark illustrations, with their combed-through textures, set Johnson apart visually; her rainbow-hued dresses radiate alongside her white male colleagues' white apparel. An author's note concludes this handsomely illustrated book about a Hidden Figures standout. Ages 4 8.
