Math Majors on the Move

Most Americans have no idea that from the 1940s through the 1960s, a cadre of African-American women formed part of the country's space work force," Hidden Figures author Margot Lee Shetterly writes, adding that it's often unknown that this same group "helped provide NASA with the raw computing power it needed to dominate the heavens.

We Didn't Choose Mathematics. Mathematics Chose Us.

They come from across the nation and around the globe. They're bold. They're smart. They're fierce; and they will likely help solve some of the world's most difficult problems. Spelman math majors share why they choose to study mathematics, their plans for the future and what influenced their love affair with numbers. Also featured are brief bios of Dorothy Vaughn, Mary Jackson, and Katherine Johnson, the African-American women mathematicians who helped win the space race and put the first American on the moon. "They crossed all gender, race, and professional lines while their brilliance and firmly cemented them into U.S. history as true American heroes."