7 ms·

Katherine Johnson Biography

120 points by wglb 9y ago

telesilla 9y ago
I often exclaim how glad I am that my work doesn't directly lead to a life and death situation, but reading her biography gives a sense of the pride that must go along with those demanding challenges. I don't have those kinds of nerves, or I don't trust my ability not to error. I'm impressed by those who work in the fields of navigation and aviation.
WalterBright 9y ago
Having others trust their lives to you is the highest honor you can have. What a remarkable person.
mixmastamyk 9y ago
While reading I was imagining the movie "Hidden Figures" which I saw recently, and it turns out it was her. Was pleased to read she received the medal of freedom. Why did it take until 2015?
- davedx 9y ago
  And would she have a chance of receiving such an honor today?
  - Grustaf 9y ago
    Why not?
    - throwawayknecht 9y ago
      Aside from the obvious answer that the current US president is one of the most openly racist in the past 40 years, there's a strong indication that white presidents fail to award black achievement, especially by women. Otherwise she would have been awarded the medal considerably earlier, given her retirement in 1986. (The sample size is unfortunately limited; I recommend electing more black presidents to further test this hypothesis.)
- skybrian 9y ago
  I haven't found anything specifically about this, but Margot Lee Shetterly started researching the book in 2010 and sold movie rights in 2014. I also found a photo of the (human) computers from a lecture she did in 2014. So it seems like there was enough publicity then to get the attention of the Obama administration?
reimertz 9y ago
I just saw the movie Hidden Figures which is based on the incredible achievements of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson. I was happily surprised to see this on HN. If you haven’t seen it, please do. It was an eye opener for me as an non-American to see how normalized racism was in the 1960’s even at places like NASA where one might assume science trumps ignorance.
- andreasklinger 9y ago
  Fully agree. Considered this movie an eye opener as well - highly recommend to those who haven't seen it yet. Since the movie, when people speak of "not lowering the bar" i have to think about how much people like her (and many others) had/have to run and jump uphill to even get to the bar.
- rjdagost 9y ago
  That was an agenda-driven movie. All of the racist characters featured in that film and nearly all of the racist scenarios were fabricated out of whole cloth. There was definitely institutionalized racism at NASA in those days, but Katherine Johnson herself said that she didn't really feel it there. The film irritated me because it made it seem like the few women depicted were the ones responsible for all calculations, when in reality there were hundreds of such people.
  - skybrian 9y ago
    This is unfortunately typical for movies that are "based on a true story" (that is, not a documentary). The book is much better: more accurate and more historical context. (I do wish it geeked out more, but you do get a somewhat better idea of the science involved.)
  - throwawayknecht 9y ago
    Most if not all of the discriminatory events in the film happened, just not in the same order or to exactly the same people. The major scenes that were made up whole-cloth were the ones with white people being anti-racist. You're twisting Johnson's words to say she didn't feel it; she was able to use a "whites-only" bathroom and didn't experience as much direct personal animus from her co-workers. That doesn't mean she didn't feel it, only that it didn't take certain forms. But twisting that is also to miss the entire point of highlighting this moment in history: She was great, but not singular - she succeeded in large part because she had a tremendously lucky break others were denied. Much like a poor person winning the lottery doesn't create upward economic mobility, a black women getting a good job doesn't end racism. (I already wrote about this at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14482955 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14482955 and I suspect there is some concerted effort to parrot talking points against the film as I've seen similar bizarre comments on many sites.)

120 points by wglb 9y ago

I often exclaim how glad I am that my work doesn't directly lead to a life and death situation, but reading her biography gives a sense of the pride that must go along with those demanding challenges. I don't have those kinds of nerves, or I don't trust my ability not to error. I'm impressed by those who work in the fields of navigation and aviation.

WalterBright 9y ago

Having others trust their lives to you is the highest honor you can have. What a remarkable person.

mixmastamyk 9y ago

While reading I was imagining the movie "Hidden Figures" which I saw recently, and it turns out it was her. Was pleased to read she received the medal of freedom. Why did it take until 2015?

davedx 9y ago
And would she have a chance of receiving such an honor today?
- Grustaf 9y ago
  Why not?
  - throwawayknecht 9y ago
    Aside from the obvious answer that the current US president is one of the most openly racist in the past 40 years, there's a strong indication that white presidents fail to award black achievement, especially by women. Otherwise she would have been awarded the medal considerably earlier, given her retirement in 1986. (The sample size is unfortunately limited; I recommend electing more black presidents to further test this hypothesis.)
skybrian 9y ago
I haven't found anything specifically about this, but Margot Lee Shetterly started researching the book in 2010 and sold movie rights in 2014. I also found a photo of the (human) computers from a lecture she did in 2014. So it seems like there was enough publicity then to get the attention of the Obama administration?

reimertz 9y ago

I just saw the movie Hidden Figures which is based on the incredible achievements of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson. I was happily surprised to see this on HN. If you haven’t seen it, please do. It was an eye opener for me as an non-American to see how normalized racism was in the 1960’s even at places like NASA where one might assume science trumps ignorance.

andreasklinger 9y ago
Fully agree. Considered this movie an eye opener as well - highly recommend to those who haven't seen it yet. Since the movie, when people speak of "not lowering the bar" i have to think about how much people like her (and many others) had/have to run and jump uphill to even get to the bar.
rjdagost 9y ago
That was an agenda-driven movie. All of the racist characters featured in that film and nearly all of the racist scenarios were fabricated out of whole cloth. There was definitely institutionalized racism at NASA in those days, but Katherine Johnson herself said that she didn't really feel it there. The film irritated me because it made it seem like the few women depicted were the ones responsible for all calculations, when in reality there were hundreds of such people.
- skybrian 9y ago
  This is unfortunately typical for movies that are "based on a true story" (that is, not a documentary). The book is much better: more accurate and more historical context. (I do wish it geeked out more, but you do get a somewhat better idea of the science involved.)
- throwawayknecht 9y ago
  Most if not all of the discriminatory events in the film happened, just not in the same order or to exactly the same people. The major scenes that were made up whole-cloth were the ones with white people being anti-racist. You're twisting Johnson's words to say she didn't feel it; she was able to use a "whites-only" bathroom and didn't experience as much direct personal animus from her co-workers. That doesn't mean she didn't feel it, only that it didn't take certain forms. But twisting that is also to miss the entire point of highlighting this moment in history: She was great, but not singular - she succeeded in large part because she had a tremendously lucky break others were denied. Much like a poor person winning the lottery doesn't create upward economic mobility, a black women getting a good job doesn't end racism. (I already wrote about this at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14482955 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14482955 and I suspect there is some concerted effort to parrot talking points against the film as I've seen similar bizarre comments on many sites.)