What do you think a human computer would be?

Who is a mathematician you like? Would you like to be a famous mathematician?

NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson passed away earlier this month at the age of 101. She was a black American woman who helped to break race barriers by working in NASA’s early space program.

She was an American hero and her pioneering legacy will never be forgotten, said the chief of NASA.

She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from former President Barack Obama in 2015.

A 2016 book called Hidden Figures was about her life and experiences. It was turned into a Hollywood movie the same year. The film received three Academy Award nominations from the film industry. Johnson was at the Academy Awards ceremony the next year with actors from the film.

What did Johnson do?

Johnson and her coworkers were known as human “computers” during the early years of NASA’s space program. They used pencils, slide rules and mechanical calculating machines to calculate the paths of rockets into space. She worked on the first mission to put an American in space in 1961. She also confirmed the computer calculations made by IBM computers for going around the Earth in 1962.

But Johnson and her black American coworkers were not known by the public until the book and movie. One reason is because NASA segregated the group. Government officials kept the women separate because of the color of their skin.

She worked in a group separated from white workers. She said that she was too busy to be concerned with racism. In her book Hidden Figures it says that Johnson “didn’t close her eyes to the racism that existed.” She instead pretended it didn’t happen.

Johnson grew up in West Virginia at a time when education for black Americans was not much. Her mother and father moved 200km to live in a town that had a high school for black American children.

Her skill in mathematics got her into West Virginia State College at the age of 15. She also was one of the first black students to enter the graduate school at West Virginia University in 1938.

Later she got a job at NASA where she worked with other black American women.

She continued with NASA working on the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs. She retired in 1986.

She said she was most proud of calculating the paths for the lunar lander and the orbiting command spacecraft for the first trip to the moon, Apollo 11.

Johnson described her abilities as: “You tell me when and where you want it to come down, and I will tell you where and when and how to launch it.”

Try to guess the meaning of the words in bold and match them with their closest meaning from the choices in the right. Some of the answers are very close and have similar meaning. The meaning of these words is how they are used in the reading. Some of these words have different meanings in the dictionary depending on how they are used.

 The answers are below the table.

A=6, B=1, C=8, D=7, E=4, F=5, G=2, H=3

Some example sentences using the new words or phrases from the meaning of how they are used in the reading to help you understand better.

1. It is sad that those we love will pass away.

2. Mr Chung pioneered Korea’s first power station.

3. He was a famous coach. His legacy is that he made the team famous.

4. In some countries, people are segregated because of their religion.

5. You should not be concerned with what your classmates’ grades are. Instead you need to do your best to learn this.

6. Your sickness exists because you won’t go and see a doctor.

7. We should launch this product. It is great.

    

    

    

Some questions using the new words/phrases. Try to use the words/phrases in your answer.

1. Who is someone you admire or think is great that has passed away? Describe.

2. Describe a pioneer in your country? What legacy did they leave?

3. Why do you think people segregated because of a person’s color, religion or race?

4. How much should we be concerned with racism?

5. How can we stop racism existing?

6. Instead of studying, what you like to do?

7. How do you think brave women like Mrs Johnson launch the future of other black women?