Although Hidden Figures, about the female African American mathematicians who worked for NASA in the 1960s, failed to land any Oscars on Sunday (it was nominated for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Octavia Spencer), the film's surviving subject, Katherine Johnson (age 98), was honored on stage with a standing ovation. Johnson (played by Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) were human computers who performed mathematical calculations prior to the widespread availability of electronic computers. Their long-unrecognized work, conducted under the shadow of period prejudices, helped propel astronaut John Glenn into orbit and the United States to victory in the space race.
Hidden Figures is based on Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly, who sold the film rights before the book was published by William Morrow in 2016. Shetterly's book has a broader scope than the film, following four African American women (including Christine Darden, who does not appear in the movie) through World War II, the space race and the civil rights era. Hidden Figures unearths an important chapter in social and aerospace history. A paperback movie tie-in version was published in December 2016 ($15.99, 9780062363602). --Tobias Mutter
