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The Poetic Science: An Analysis Of America's Hidden Figure

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In a race to designate which country possessed the best science, technology, and economic system, the United States of America was anxious to earn the victory of launching the first person into space. Unfortunately, the United States of America was defeated by Russia due to Yuri Gagarin, a cosmonaut, being the first man to travel into space. However, the defeat inspired Americans to work more diligently to accomplish their goal of orbiting Earth. With that being said, to attain their aspiration, the space task group had to adapt to some hidden figures from the west area of the department in order to achieve one of the greatest historical moments of America’s history: the launch of John Glenn into orbit, who was the first American to orbit Earth. Specifically, the hidden figures (Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Dorothy Vaughan) were the brains behind the mathematical calculations for the successful rocket launch. Therefore, the hidden figures, who worked for NASA, impacted astronomical science significantly, which is highlighted in the film Hidden Figures. Also, depicted in the film are various themes such as: to take risks and to believe in yourself, to not underestimate the …show more content…

As depicted in the film, the head engineer in the space task group did not fancy the idea of Katherine checking his mathematical calculations. He perceived it as an insult to his intelligence to have an African American woman be assigned specifically to correct his unknown errors. He wanted the boss to value his calculations instead of Katherine’s. He also was not too thrilled about Katherine attending the meetings regarding the space launch as he stated, “women are not allowed in meetings.” Moreover, if Katherine was not a part of the space task group, the launch of John Glenn into orbit would have been unsuccessful since she was the brain behind the

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