Math Wins Jaclyn Tropp Benton High School Abstract In the movie, based on a true event, called Hidden Figures a team of NASA scientist are put up to the task of winning the space race against the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The determination of the scientist to find a solution to their mathematical issue is completely astounding. The scientist and mathematicians used various methods as well as different types of math to solve one issue… the safe ascend and descend of the astronauts to and from space within a given time slot. The scientist and mathematicians work together and did not let the color of their skin or their gender defy their limits. Katherine is a African-American woman in the 1960’s who defies …show more content…
Euler’s method is, “pretty old,” and it was, “developed by Leonhard Euler (pronounced oy-ler), a prolific Swiss mathematician who lived 1707-1783,” it was a great solution to predict the force of gravity would have on the soon to be spaceship ascending into space (Meyers, 2017). Since this proposed a solution to the given issue of safety winning the world wide space race, “Katherine Johnson and other women of NASA [use Euler’s method] to send astronauts [to space],” the boldness that these courageous women use to overcome their task is simply astounding. On top of their perseverance for the mathematical aspect of the space race the scientist, “Johnson and engineer Ted Skopinski” use physics and math/science methods to determine the exact place the astronaut would be if he fell to the ocean so that the navy could find and hopefully rescue him (Meyers, 2017). Skopinski and Johnson also use their like mentality to come to the development that the earth is, “not a perfect sphere, as assumed in idealized orbital mechanics calculations, but bulges slightly in the middle, like a squashed ball, which causes the capsule's orbit to shift slightly over time,” (Meyers,
Katherine Johnson is a memorable African American mathematician and an icon for young black girls around the world. Katherine Johnson loved math. Early in her career, she was called a “computer.” She helped NASA put an astronaut into orbit around Earth, and then she helped put a man on the moon.
The Sally Ride Science program is based in San Diego, California and is also partnered with the University of California at San Diego. Well after Ride’s passing, this company has thrived to help encourage and educate the generation of tomorrow. The Sally Ride Science website states that, “The goal is to help educators build students’ STEM literacy and make connections between what students are learning and the STEM fields that are expected to experience rapid job growth in the coming decades” (Sally Ride Science). In addition to the main program, the Sally Ride Science Junior Academy was launched in 2016 to help middle and high school students participate in STEAM organizations and activities throughout the San Diego area. Sally Ride’s influence not only helped to benefitted these student, but she helped to break down a barrier for women everywhere. In a USA Today article written by Mary Marklein, “Since her historic mission, 55 women have flown in space with NASA” (Marklein). Thanks to Ride making history as the first woman to lift off into space, she opened the door many other women to do the same. Not only that, but she set the standard for future generations of female teachers, physicists and
Dr. Sally Kristen Ride was born in Encino, California on May 26th, 1951. Growing up, Sally was considered a tomboy. She spent most of her time playing football and baseball with the neighborhood boys. As Sally grew older, she found a love for tennis and science fiction novels. In high school, she studied chemistry, physics, trigonometry, and calculus. Sally started her first year of college at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and then transferred to Stanford University in California. At Stanford, Sally’s main studies were english and physics. After graduation Sally entered Stanford’s Master’s program specializing in astrophysics. It was during this that Sally heard that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) were looking for young scientists to become mission specialists. She noticed that NASA was encouraging women to apply. Sally applied and seemed to fit all of the requirements. She was asked to report to ...
The first record of the movement of the planets was produced by Nicolaus Copernicus. He proposed that the earth was the center of everything, which the term is called geocentric. Kepler challenged the theory that the sun was the center of the earth and proposed that the sun was the center of everything; this term is referred to as heliocentric. Kepler’s heliocentric theory was accepted by most people and is accepted in today’s society. One of Kepler’s friends was a famous person named Galileo. Galileo is known for improving the design and the magnification of the telescope. With improvement of the telescope Galileo could describe the craters of the moon and the moons of Jupiter. Galileo also created the number for acceleration of all free falling objects as 9.8 meters per second. Galileo’s and Kepler’s theories were not approved by all people. Their theories contradicted verses in the bible, so the protestant church was extremely skeptical of both Galileo and Kepler’s
During the age of space exploration, many new types of technology were created and introduced for public usage based on technology used for space exploration related research. These types of technology include artificial limbs, anti-icing systems for planes, firefighter gear, enriched baby food, and portable cordless vacuums4. These forms of technology became popular due to how useful they were and became essential parts of people's lives across the world. Another way that space exploration influenced social change was is how it created unity amongst the world. Events such as the moon landing in 1969, the first American women astronaut by the name of Sally Ride being launched into space in 1981, or even the tragic event that happened in 1986 where Challenger burned up and killed all crew members on board in a mere 73 seconds after lift off inspired the entire world to put aside their differences and unite together in order to fully appreciate the accomplishments and advances in technology and information that had been being made rapidly right before their very eyes5, 6. Space exploration led to many new discoveries about the world around us and outside our reach, and led to the creation of many new forms of technologies that are now essential parts of our lives, thus having a major impact on social change both during the past and in the
Blasting off into space was once an all-male’s game. But on the heels of such trailblazers as Sally Ride, engineer and inventor Ellen Ochoa became part of growing breed of NASA female astronauts who have since helped change all that. Ellen Ochoa, a veteran astronaut, is the 11th director of the Johnson Space Center. She is JSC’s first Hispanic director, and its second female director. In 1993, she made history by becoming the first Hispanic woman from any country to travel in space. She would follow up this journey with three more space flights in 1994, 1999 and 2001, logging more than 700 hours in space. Despite being rejected two times from NASA’s Training Program,
The film Hidden Figures Is a historically accurate story about three african american women working for the NASA. The movie was based off of the book ‘Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race”. The three women,Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, were considered “human computers” due to their vast knowledge. The “human computers” group was made up of mostly women who worked for NASA to see that our astronauts made their trip to space safely.
The 1960’s were full of questions, and one of the biggest questions the world was pondering about was regarding the Space Race: was the USA going to beat their communist enemy, the Soviet Union? The Space Race was a series of events that helped to symbolize and determine in the worlds’ eyes which form of government was better, communism (Soviets) or democracy (United States)? In the beginning of the race, the Soviets had the lead, and it was not looking good for America. Then the United States picked up the pace and spent well over eight billion dollars funding the space studies. This period of time made many scientists and astronauts heroes in the eyes of Americans. The Space Race was a combination of determination, intelligence, space projects, and American pride, all used to reach our exploration goals and surpass the Soviets.
The short film, Hidden Figures was an extraordinary piece of work that contains many important themes. This biographical drama that is based on the book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterfly, is absolutely unique to the USA. The film is about three brilliant African-American women at NASA, Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson who serve as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history. This NASA headquarter’s building is located only in Washington D.C, United States of America. This clearly illustrates the main setting of this film.
The work of Evelyn Boyd Granville was important because she focused on the mathematics and physics of life and the earth. Discovering new ideas about the orbit and objects pertaining to the orbit. This research paper will go into depth of her life and through her accomplishments, such as learning math and physics, which most women in this time period did not have a chance to go through. Another reason why the work of Evelyn was so important because it is used in our everyday lives to create new things, discover new things, and to solve problems. Mathematics is used to pay bills and to cook to give a few examples. It is also used to figure out different formulas for space. Mathematics is used for computing things dealing with space and the earth for the satellites and spaceships. Evelyn used math to solve difficult problems in her career, for example the orbits. Even though Math is not spoken of with every thing you do, math exists everywhere.
A movie called, Hidden Figures, was the true story of an African American woman named Katherine Johnson that had a niche for mathematics, she was above her class and age level when it came to solving math equations. She was gifted with the brainpower to solve college level math when she was still in grammar school. The story goes along her life's story on how she changed the name for African American women, back in her time, African Americans were segregated and had little to no chance in going into a professional career. Now, for African American women, it was even harder to get credit for their hard work by anyone of another race, especially since the majority of people were Caucasians. Katherine eventually lands a job at NASA and is
Sally Kristen Ride, an American astronaut, made history when she became the first woman and youngest person to travel in space. To educate children, she enjoyed writing books concerning travel and discoveries in space. Ride was born on May 26, 1951 in Encino, California and passed away from pancreatic cancer on July 23, 2012 in La Jolla, California. Ever since she was a young girl, Ride had always been curious about the world around her. Ride’s various accomplishments led her to receive many prestigious honors such as being inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame and recognized as a renowned American leader. Two vital influences in Sally Kristen Ride’s life were her high school physiology teacher and her mother.
In Hidden Figures, Katherine Johnson was given the opportunity to check the math that would result in life or death for the astronaut, John Glenn. She used Euler’s method to approximate trajectories by hand. The Euler’s method describes “the path of a moving object subject to changing forces” (Meyers, 2017). For instance, you could use
(Source K) Flowers, Sarah. “Understanding: Space Travel.” Rev. of Understanding: Space Travel. PoQuest. N.p., Aug. 2000. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. .
The history of math has become an important study, from ancient to modern times it has been fundamental to advances in science, engineering, and philosophy. Mathematics started with counting. In Babylonia mathematics developed from 2000B.C. A place value notation system had evolved over a lengthy time with a number base of 60. Number problems were studied from at least 1700B.C. Systems of linear equations were studied in the context of solving number problems.