Hidden Figures

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Great movie, well worth seeing, may or may not make you angry at times while watching.

[stevej37]

I liked it. I expected Jim Parsons to have a larger role than he did.
There were a few things that I had forgotten about the Mercury Program.
Well worth seeing.

[Evans, Marv]

Wife & I saw it yesterday. It was one of those we walked out of agreeing we both liked it. Great story. Afterwards I commented to my wife it was good without all of the digital wizardry we see in movies now days. Of course there was probably a lot of digital wizardry that wasn't obvious.

[stomachmonkey]

A little slow here and there and unnecessarily over dramatized in spots but still well worth the price of admission.

One part, which at the time I thought was schmaltzy, turned out to be true.

John Glenn did actually ask for "the girl" to check and verify the data pumped out by the IBM before he would fly.

[sand_man]

My daughter saw it with her 8th grade class on a field trip. She has pretty advanced taste in movies and said she'd see it again with me.

[John Rogers]

That's the way life was. In the 1950's and even into the 1960's race was a particular thing. My home town had a poor black section, poor white section, middle class white section (where I grew up), rich black section and rich white section. Never did the folks from one part of town mingle or work together I.E. all business owners and such were white, cleaning folks were black. We did have some people from Puerto Rico and Cuba but they and black people were field workers.

At Dover AFB 95% of the people were white, cleaning people were black. They had integrated Air Force people but civilians were another matter.

I used to go through the poor areas to the river and bow hunt catfish and give them to the poor families on my way home. It has changed some now in the 21st century with integrated schools and teachers when people finally figured out skin color did not matter on how smart you were!

[onevoice]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

John Glenn did actually ask for "the girl" to check and verify the data pumped out by the IBM before he would fly.

Maybe, but probably not. Why didn't he ever mention it in his book.

The general idea of a single person being the go-no go determination flies in the face of everything NASA did, especially if it is asking a person who does calculations, not the person who actually DEVELOPED THE EQUATIONS Those types of calculations were done by teams of people, and took lots of time.

There were a lot of unsung heroes in the space program, this movie, like most, mixes a lot of interpretation and politics into the "facts"

[DanielDudley]

Originally Posted by onevoice

Maybe, but probably not. Why didn't he ever mention it in his book.

The general idea of a single person being the go-no go determination flies in the face of everything NASA did, especially if it is asking a person who does calculations, not the person who actually DEVELOPED THE EQUATIONS Those types of calculations were done by teams of people, and took lots of time.

There were a lot of unsung heroes in the space program, this movie, like most, mixes a lot of interpretation and politics into the "facts"

Actual interview with Katherine Johnson.

''You did more than calculations — in the film, you created “new” math to go from an elliptical to a parabolic orbit. Did you think of it as cutting-edge math at the time?

It was pure math. It was the solution to the problem. That was what we did. That’s why they needed mathematicians.


It was a good movie with a solid basis in fact. Katherine Johnson was a mathematical savant. I don't doubt that for a second.

There’s this lovely part in the movie in which your character turns to “old” math — Euler’s method — to figure out how to get John Glenn back down from orbit. Did that really happen?

It seemed logical to me. I could see in my mind what I needed and sort of worked backwards.

Did you ever have to fight to have authorship or co-authorship of a report?

The movie and book were pretty accurate. Women (“girls,” aka mathematicians) did not have their names included as authors on technical paper in the early days.''

''Did you ever have to go toe-to-toe with them over the numbers?

After a while, they learned to respect my answers because they were always correct.''

[M.D. Holloway]

I've known a lot of scientists (most chemists, few biologists and physicists) and I have never known any to be racists or bigots. A-holes, for sure but only when it came to interpretations of fact. Arrogant to a fault in some cases as well. Science (and math?) seem to be color blind. At least that has been my experience.

[mjohnson]

Originally Posted by M.D. Holloway

I've known a lot of scientists (most chemists, few biologists and physicists) and I have never known any to be racists or bigots. A-holes, for sure but only when it came to interpretations of fact. Arrogant to a fault in some cases as well. Science (and math?) seem to be color blind. At least that has been my experience.

20 years at Los Alamos shows the same for me.

Every pig sty has its dirty corners but mostly we're of the "Can you do the job? -- Yes? -- Welcome. Do your job." sort.

Oh, and we're 90% a-hole. So are most of our hires regardless of color or creed...

Looking forward to the movie

[sc_rufctr]

More than two years later... I just watched this with my GF. Great inspiring movie! I'd certainly recommend it.

It didn't follow history 100% but the liberties the film make took were understandable considering the complexity of the story.

[kach22i]

My wife and I saw the movie last year in a college auditorium after a presentation on up and coming technology such a a transparent film that can be applied to windows and generate photovoltaic power.

Good film, reminds us how recently our country has progressed, and maybe we need to show a little patience with the rest of the world while they catch up.

[flatbutt]

Another story that needs to be told is that of Cecelia Payne and Annie Jump-Cannon.

[Sooner or later]

I enjoyed it

[flipper35]

Originally Posted by onevoice

Maybe, but probably not. Why didn't he ever mention it in his book.

The general idea of a single person being the go-no go determination flies in the face of everything NASA did, especially if it is asking a person who does calculations, not the person who actually DEVELOPED THE EQUATIONS Those types of calculations were done by teams of people, and took lots of time.

There were a lot of unsung heroes in the space program, this movie, like most, mixes a lot of interpretation and politics into the "facts"

It is exactly how NASA did things back then. The computer was new and they used people to verify the numbers. She would have done the same calculations the computer did, no need to ask the person that developed the equations.

We saw it in the theaters when it came out. Overall it was a good movie. I was very glad it wasn't a Michael Bay or JJ Abrams film.

[911 Rod]

Netflix?

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by John Rogers

That's the way life was. In the 1950's and even into the 1960's race was a particular thing. My home town had a poor black section, poor white section...................

I have mentioned I was an auditor. Kinda weird but I loved to look at old, I mean old, accounting records.

One company had a monthly "Horse and Buggy Maintenance Accrual" in a ledger from the 1920's. $2.50.

Anyhoo... Sniffing through old as dirt hard-copy personnel records, I found a black janitor's file who was hired in the 50's. They put that guy through the ringer. Hired an investigator to tail him and report on his activities. As documented, dude went to church. No bar frequenting. Clean shaven, clean clothes and one woman/family. No suspect activity noted.

Not really ethical for me to be looking at that stuff but was an eye opener. From my perspective it was like looking at the old Radio Shack catalogs thread recently posted. Simply curiosity.

[Bob Kontak]

Watching Hidden Figures tonight.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

Watching Hidden Figures tonight.

Jeez. This thread a a couple years old.

Enjoyed it. Taraji Henson as Katherine Johnson was good.

Mahershala Ali was one of the bad guys in Alita Battle Angel.

[Clint Lando]

Originally Posted by onevoice

There were a lot of unsung heroes in the space program, this movie, like most, mixes a lot of interpretation and politics into the "facts"

yes