Book Review: “Hidden Figures” by Margot Lee Shetterly

Dec 26

Håfa adai! February is Black History Month in the United States. Throughout February 2025, I posted reviews for books across various genres written by African American authors and/or depict important experiences and stories within Black history. My fourth selection of February 2025 is Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly.

This book review consists of two parts: a brief summary of content followed by my personal takeaways. I may go into detail about some parts of the book, but I will leave out the greater nuance. I want to share my opinions of the book and encourage you to purchase a copy of your own.

Click on the tags at the bottom of this post to see all reviews with the same tags in the Social Sciences & History bookshelf.

Summary

Before the age of electronic computers, human computers were tasked with solving equations, cracking codes, producing Cartesian maps grids, and translating theory to application. The demand for a fighting force during both World Wars meant that it was up to women to fill the roles of computers as mathematicians, physicists, chemists, and other experts in the physical sciences. The decades following WWII turned conditional allies into rivals as the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) entered the Cold War and initiated the Space Race, a competition between nations to be the first to achieve space capabilities.

In 1958, the United States replaced the National Advisory Council for Aeronautics (NACA) with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)—moving the agency campus from Virginia to Texas—to place greater effort on making progress in the Space Race. But deeply ingrained misogyny and institutional racism in the Jim Crow era United States placed intense barriers between young Black scientists, engineers, and mathematicians and the same titles and positions offered to White experts in the same field. These barriers would also effect the United States’ ability to make progress in the race of scientific advancement. Hidden Figures follows the stories of five women who had to break through these barriers, paving the way for all future women in science in the United States, to help their country go beyond the Earth’s atmosphere.

My Thoughts on Hidden Figures: 4.75 stars

I had originally intended to post this review on Monday, 24 February 2025. Unfortunately, I was not able to finish reading Hidden Figures until mid-March. I strongly prefer to finish the books I review even though I have no intention of revealing endings, spoilers, plot twists, or excessive detail. As I say in the disclaimer of every post, I just want to share my personal thoughts and possibly encourage a reader to obtain a copy of their own (if it is a recommendable book). But most importantly, Hidden Figures tells an amazing story in Black history, American history, and human history and I did not want to forgo sharing this review because of missing a self-imposed deadline.

Hidden Figures is equal parts biography, history, and science lesson. Margot Lee Shetterly takes an intersectional approach to the experiences of Black women mathematicians to highlight the misogyny and racism they faced throughout the Jim Crow era United States. There were sections where the narrative felt dry and staccato—and it was difficult to stay focused on the discussion in those parts—but the overall writing throughout the book is an incredible display of carefully conducted research woven into compassionate storytelling.

Margot Lee Shetterly points out that the research behind Hidden Figures uncovered the tremendous secret that seemed to be the women computers behind the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Hundreds of women were employed as computers, making incredible contributions to America’s place in the Space Race. Although Hidden Figures could have been a tale of all those women, the author composes a more personal narrative by focusing on five women in particular: Dorothy Vaughan, Katherine Goble (later known as Katherine Johnson after she married her husband), Mary Jackson, Christine Darden, and Gloria Champine.

Dorothy Vaughan, Katherine Goble/Johnson, and Mary Jackson were Black women mathematicians—officially known as computers—working for NACA and then NASA. Their contributions to research and application at NACA and NASA greatly helped the United States’ achieve its goal of landing on the moon and would equate to 95 combined years of service. Christine Darden was hired as a data analyst at NASA’s Langley Research Center in 1967 and would later be the first Black woman to be promoted to the agency’s Senior Executive Service. Gloria Champine was a White woman who worked as a secretary at NASA’s Chief of Space System’s Division. She would strongly advocate for over a hundred women to be offered positions and titles equal to those offered to men at NASA.

I give Hidden Figures 4.75 out of 5 stars. Margot Lee Shetterly deftly weaves the first-hand experiences of a few Black women computers of NACA (and later NASA) with the ongoing social and geopolitical realities of the Jim Crow era United States, the Civil Rights Movement, the Cold War, and the Space Race. This book could easily be shelved with non-fiction works in the physical sciences due to the way Margot Lee Shetterly provides detailed explanations behind the specific scientific advancements and engineering breakthroughs made throughout the decades of the Cold War. I recommend Hidden Figures to anyone looking for a holistic review of the incredible social and scientific history that paved the way for a giant leap for humankind.

Dångkulo' na' saina ma'åse'! Thank you so much for reading my review of Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly.

Other Books Reviewed for Black History Month 2025:

Kindred by Octavia Butler
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

Rating Cheat Sheet

4.75 - 5.00 stars: Everyone should read this book! (If you’re into that sort of thing.)
4.00 - 4.50 stars: I appreciated many aspects of this book. I recommend it!
3.00 - 3.75 stars: I liked some aspects of this book. I won’t revisit it, but someone else might really like it.
2.00 - 2.75 stars: There were some things I appreciated about this book, but I do not recommend it.
0.25 - 1.75 stars: I do not recommend this book. I did not enjoy or appreciate the experience of it.

Post Date: 24 March 2025