The computers we knew started around 1960s, but NASA started the space race in late 1950s.
NASA, shooting rockets into space, is dominated by scientists and engineering, men in white.
Thus it is of interest to find that 3 black applied mathematicians in NASA, who started their career as "computer wearing skirt",
also played vital roles in the space race:
我們認識的 computer 大約在20世紀60年代開始發展，但美國太空總處 (NASA) 在20世紀50年代末已開始了太空競賽。
發射火箭進入太空的 NASA 由科學家和工程師主導，大多數是白人男性。
因此，這是有興趣的知識點滴。原來 NASA 有3名黑人女性應用數學家，她們的職業是“穿裙子的計算員”, 在太空競賽中扮演重要角色：
【325 pages】
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【16 pages】
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The Woman the Mercury Astronauts Couldn’t Do Without (December 1, 2016)
by Margot Lee Shetterly, illustrations by Richie Pope.
【2:06:44】
Subtitle
The movie is based on a true story, about the contribution of black women mathematician in the early days of NASA, against various injustice at that time in US.
The math part is just the thread for the story, not too heavy -- easy to understand.
The real story is about how the women struggle for their career paths.
NASA started the space race before the days of electronic computers.
Their mission was therefore supported by a pool of human computers,
someone who computes with mechanical devices or slide rule.
These were deemed as mundane jobs, and women were employed as men were engineers in NASA.
In those days, black and white were segregated in US.
Thus the low-paid white female computers formed the East Group,
while the even-lowered-paid black female computers formed the West Group.
They worked in separate buildings, with separate facilities.
Evidently, NASA's early success relied on some hard-working computers. Among the West Computing Group 3 stars emerged to play key roles in the movie.
This is a fine example of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), especially for girls.
這部電影是基於一個真實的故事，描述黑人女性數學家在 NASA 初期的貢獻，在當時美國的各種不公平下逆流而上。
其中數學部分只是故事的引線，深入淺出，不難明白。
真正的主題是刻畫女性如何在職場上奮鬥。
在電子計算機廣泛應用之前，NASA開始了太空競賽。
他們能夠完成使命, 全靠一班計算員 (computer) 的鼎力支持, 只利用機械計算機或計算尺.
這些被認為是卑微的工作，一般只僱用女性。男性則受聘為工程師。
在那個年代，美國仍實行種族隔離政策。
因此，低收入的白人女計算員被安排在東翼，
而更低薪的黑人女計算員則安排在西翼。
她們在分隔的建築物內工作，各自有獨立的設施。
很明顯，NASA早期的成績，有賴這班默默耕耘的計算員。 電影突出在西翼中的三位主角，扮演關鍵角色。
這是 STEM（Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics）一個挺好的例子，對女孩子尤甚。
