The Black Women in the Space Race (and other unacknowledged women)

[Ewan]

During the Space Race in the 1960's NASA employed a considerable number of African American women in the role of 'computers'.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/spac...men-computers/

In 2016 a book was released about that story by Margot Lee Shetterly whose father had actually worked at NASA, as a research scientist, with many of the book’s main characters.

A film followed, which for the sake of brevity chose to focus on just three main characters.

I watched that film last night and thoroughly recommend it. This was a time when women in general barely had equal opportunity so to be a black woman was more than just a double whammy.

The internal strength of all people who have suffered such discrimination is something that should be dwelt upon and considered. The film depicts this very well as a lone black woman enters a room full of white males who are almost certainly racist, (as, generally, was the culture of the time), but likely a little misogynistic also.

More discussion on the mentality behind racism can be found here.

At one point this genius mathmetician, who just happens to be in a female body with a black skin, asks the only other woman (white) in that section where the bathroom is.
The answer that came was so stunning I literally wanted to punch her in the face.

"I don't know where your bathroom is."



Katherine Johnson in 2008
(In 1938, as a graduate student, she became one of three students—and the only woman—to desegregate West Virginia's state college.)


Here is a MAGNET link for the film, if you don't know what that is don't bother clicking it.

Also:
The Women You've Never Heard of Who Transformed Astrophysics

http://www.popularmechanics.com/spac...lass-universe/

In the late 19th century, the Harvard College Observatory employed a group of women who collected, studied, and cataloged thousands of images of stars on glass plates. As chronicled in Dava Sobel's book The Glass Universe, these women were every bit as capable as men despite toiling under less-than-favorable conditions. Williamina Fleming, for instance, classified over 10,000 stars using a scheme she created and was the first to recognize the existence of white dwarfs. While working six-day weeks at a job demanding "a large capacity for tedium," they were still expected to uphold societal norms of being a good wife and mother.

[Cardillac]

@Ewan

"classified over 10,000 stars using a scheme she created and was the first to recognize the existence of white dwarfs"

who were the 'white dwarfs'?- Leprechons? (or not)

please explain- would interrest me greatly-

Larry

[Ewan]

A specific type of star Cardillac.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_dwarf

[Ewan]

(1897, Lydia Johnson) The Black Girl So Brilliant Even Science Could Not Explain Her

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ladwgOs-oo8

Step into the terrifying world of 1897 Boston, where a 13-year-old Black girl's extraordinary genius became her greatest curse. When Professor Harrison Webb discovered Lydia Johnson solving advanced mathematical equations that MIT's best minds couldn't crack, he unknowingly sealed her fate in ways more horrifying than any ghost story.

What unspeakable horrors did this brilliant child endure in the name of "science"? When racial theorists discovered a Negro girl whose abilities shattered every lie they'd built their careers upon, they didn't celebrate her genius — they conspired to destroy it. This true historical horror will make you question how many other brilliant minds were silenced, studied, and systematically erased from existence.

From midnight kidnappings sanctioned by courts to secret medical facilities where children were held captive for "examination," discover how America's scientific establishment protected white supremacy at any cost. The systematic erasure of Lydia Johnson wasn't just murder of a person — it was the murder of truth itself, buried so deep that it took over a century to uncover.

Now sadly the narration is done by AI which manages to spin this story out to be over two hours long!

Fortunately I found a transcript which you could likely read in 15 minutes.

[grapevine]

Posted by Ewan (here)

(1897, Lydia Johnson) The Black Girl So Brilliant Even Science Could Not Explain Her


Fortunately I found a transcript which you could likely read in 15 minutes.

Wow, what an incredible and compelling story Ewan. Thanks vm for posting.

[Ewan]

Posted by grapevine (here)

Posted by Ewan (here)

(1897, Lydia Johnson) The Black Girl So Brilliant Even Science Could Not Explain Her


Fortunately I found a transcript which you could likely read in 15 minutes.

Wow, what an incredible and compelling story Ewan. Thanks vm for posting.

Dear Miller, sorry, Grapevine - what the hell is your name

It appears to be all AI bollocks, thanks to a heads-up from Bill. And it was a good story.... but....

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Ewan (here)

Posted by grapevine (here)

Posted by Ewan (here)

(1897, Lydia Johnson) The Black Girl So Brilliant Even Science Could Not Explain Her

Fortunately I found a transcript which you could likely read in 15 minutes.

Wow, what an incredible and compelling story Ewan. Thanks vm for posting.

It appears to be all AI bollocks, thanks to a heads-up from Bill.

What seems bewildering about this kind of thing (and yes, the whole story in the video was fabricated "for entertainment purposes", as the well-hidden YouTube disclaimer states) is that there are many many completely real and verified stories about extraordinary prodigies and outstanding, inspiring individuals in just about every field in every century and every culture.

Srinivasa Ramanujan was one, a humble Indian who lived over 100 years ago in what is now called Tamil Nadu, and grew up in poverty with zero formal mathematical training. Yet his groundbreaking work in entirely self-taught higher mathematics is still being minutely studied today by the finest mathematicians in the world. His Wiki page is here, an extraordinary story told in fascinating detail. (There's also a most excellent 2015 film about his all-too-short life, called The Man Who Knew Infinity.)

I posted here about Hannah Cairo, a home-schooled teenager who solved a very major unsolved math problem all on her own when aged just 17.

And I've posted several times about John von Neumann, one of the very greatest intellects humankind has yet produced. He was making jokes in Ancient Greek at the age of 6, and later, when he was a math student, his professor, himself a renowned mathematician, recounted that he was "afraid of him" after he proved an unsolved theorem on the blackboard in 5 minutes flat having just been told about the problem.

Like Matt Damon's character in the film Good Will Hunting, he could remember every word of every book he had ever read. All his contemporaries, including Albert Einstein, said that von Neumann's otherworldly intellect and abilities towered above those of all the others in the elite group of brilliant scientists of that time.

Those three are mathematicians, who always capture my interest. But one of the most extraordinary prodigies of all is Akiane Kramarik, who painted an extraordinarily lifelike portrait of Jesus when aged just 8, after "seeing" him clearly and repeatedly in her dreams for the previous 4 years. Her Wiki page is here, and there are countless beautifully made videos about her life and work.

~~~

I'll stop in just a minute. (I got inspired to share about just a few of the countless extraordinary people that are VERY real. Forgive me! )

But returning to topic (and to mathematics), here's a young black girl from Nigeria who has also amazed the world.

Genius On A Mission: Meet The 18-Year Old Math Prodigy, Faith Odunsi | Amazing Africans

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=OwWdGdibxcE

[grapevine]

Posted by Ewan (here)

Posted by grapevine (here)

Posted by Ewan (here)

(1897, Lydia Johnson) The Black Girl So Brilliant Even Science Could Not Explain Her


Fortunately I found a transcript which you could likely read in 15 minutes.

Wow, what an incredible and compelling story Ewan. Thanks vm for posting.

Dear Miller, sorry, Grapevine - what the hell is your name

It's Linda . . . Linda Miller .