Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13

by Helaine Becker

Other authorsDow Phumiruk (Illustrator)

Hardcover, 2018

Status

Available

Call number

510.92

Genres

Nonfiction

All Topics

Publication

Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) (2018), Edition: Illustrated, 40 pages

Description

"You've likely heard of the historic Apollo 13 [mission]. But do you know about the mathematical genius who made sure that Apollo 13 returned safely home? As a child, Katherine Johnson loved to count. She counted the steps on the road, the number of dishes and spoons she washed in the kitchen sink, everything! Boundless, curious, and excited by calculations, young Katherine longed to know as much as she could about math, about the universe. From Katherine's early beginnings as a gifted student to her heroic accomplishments as a prominent mathematician at NASA, this is the story of a groundbreaking American woman who not only calculated the course of moon landings but, in turn, saved lives and made enormous contributions to history." -- Adapted from book jacket.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Sondosottallah

Katherine Johnson's path to her amazing contribution to the Apollo 13 mission is depicted perfectly in this picture book. I actually learned a few new things about Katherine from this book. I believe this book would be great to read during Black History Month or for a science lesson about space.

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LibraryThing member aks067

This book is about a African American girl who loved math and eventually worked for NASA during the Apollo 13 era. The bad thing about this is she grew up in a time when segregation was a big thing. Being African American was frowned upon, but a girl at that was even more challenging. I gave this

book a five because it shows that no matter your gender or race you can do anything you put your heart to. It also shows that girls can be just as good as guys in the male dominant subjects such as math and science.

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LibraryThing member ebrossette

This book gives a quick biography of Katherine Johnson's life, and then goes to tell the story of her work with NACA and how she saved Apollo. There were several things I loved about this book. One, it takes the complex world of engineering and mathematics and makes it easy to understand. Two, it

mentions the impact segregation had on Katherine, and could foster great discussions about the societal barriers that many black women faced in the 70s and still face today. Three, it gives the reader information about the space race. I would highly recommend this book.

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LibraryThing member rbradfute

In "Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13", we are on a wild journey with a african-american mathematician who worked for NASA. We have all heard of the Apollo 13, but did you ever know about the mathematical genius who made sure that that mission returned home? Katherine as

a young child loved to count, she seemed to counted evreything in her path. From Katherine's younger years, she was a overall gifted students and later on that lead her to some huge heroic accomplishments. After introducing this picture book to the class, they will soon be able to pick up some history about a science topic as well as learning the concept on counting a variety of items, and as well as learning about a groundbreaking woman along the way.They can also contuine to watch the film "Hidden Figures".

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