Summary and Analysis of Hidden Figures

So much to read, so little time? Get an overview of Hidden Figures, the true story about the African American female mathematicians who helped NASA win the space race.

Margot Lee Shetterly’s Hidden Figures tells the incredible real-life account of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden—who, in a time when black women faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles, went to work as “calculators” at NASA. With pencils, paper, and slide rules, they transformed airplane, rocket, and satellite designs—and ensured a World War II victory.

Despite the social and political climate at the height of Jim Crow, these women rose up and became integral to the project that put the first man on the moon. From World War II to the Cold War to the civil rights movement to the space race, Hidden Figures tells the story of four remarkable women whose contributions to science led to some of NASA’s greatest successes.

The book has become a New York Times bestseller as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award–winning and Academy Award–nominated picture starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Kirsten Dunst, and Kevin Costner.

With historical context, important quotes, fascinating trivia, a glossary of terms, and other features, this summary and analysis of Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race is intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.