Book discussion to focus on ‘Hidden Figures’ at NASA

SEQUIM — The Novel Conversations Book Discussion Group will meet at 4 p.m. Wednesday to discuss “Hidden Figures” by Margot Lee Shetterly.

The group will meet at the Sequim Public Library, 630 N. Sequim Ave.

All that is needed to participate is to read the book and attend the discussion. No reservations are required; drop-ins are welcome.

“Hidden Figures” is the story of four African-American female mathematicians at NASA who helped achieve some of the greatest moments in the U.S. space program.

Before John Glenn orbited the earth or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as “human computers” used pencils, slide rules and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets — and astronauts — into space.

This book brings to life the stories of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Christine Darden — four African-American women who lived through the Civil Rights era, the Space Race, the Cold War and the movement for gender equality and whose work forever changed the face of NASA and the country.

The film “Hidden Figures” was based on Shetterly’s book, although it doesn’t portray Darden, a Monroe native who joined NASA five years after the other three profiled.

Copies of “Hidden Figures” are available in various formats including regular print, large print, audiobook, and downloadable eBook, which may be requested online by visiting the library catalog at www.nols.org.

A limited number of copies of each book discussion selection are available at the library the month prior to each meeting. To view a complete list of the 2018 selections, visit www.nols.org/book-discussion-groups.

For more information about this and other programs for readers and book lovers, visitwww.nols.org, email Discover@nols.org, or call 360-683-1161.

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