Helaine Becker

The bold story of an African-American mathematician who worked for NASA during the space race and was depicted in the film "Hidden Figures, " and how she made sure that the crew of Apollo 13 returned home. Full color.

Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13

Kim Tyo-Dickerson

Hooray for Katherine Johnson getting the credit that she so deserves for her work in mathematics! Every library should have a copy of this picture book biography to share with young mathematicians, computer scientists and curious learners in any subject. The message in Katherine's story is to follow your passions, develop your talents, reach for the stars. It also serves as quiet testimony to Johnson's family and their commitment to their children, her father who worked as much as he could to earn enough money to move their family to a city with a black high school so Katherine could continue to study in 1940s America where schools were still segregated by race. As an adult, Katherine became an elementary school teacher, one of the only professions open to a woman of color, but continued to dream of a career in mathematics until she saw a job ad calling for mathematicians to work for the US government's National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) and applied. Soon she was working for NASA and calculating the flight paths for Project Apollo. All her talents and leadership were put to the test when Apollo 13 suffered an explosion requiring Katherine to re-calculate the flight path and save the mission. This nail-biting challenge, the intricacies of the Apollo 13 crew burning off fuel at precise intervals following Katherine's course exactly, so perfectly illustrates Katherine's leadership and skill under pressure that make her a true American hero.

Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13

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