Missiles to the moon to mars. And she joins us now here in the gallagher theater on the campus of the university of arizona. What was the common, the commonality they found among these women . These are women who loved math and science. But they were coming of age at a time when it was not an option for women. They were women going to school in the 1930s and 40s. They were frequently the only women in their math and science classes. I just heard that over and over again. And so you can imagine how it felt for them to come together and be part of this large group of women working at the jet propulsion laboratory. Did nasa have a specific program that encourage this . This was before nasa. So nasa studied in 1958. These women were hired in the 1940s and they were hired by a woman named nancy roberts. The reason she hired all women was because she felt like she had hired men they would listen to her simply because she was a woman. And this is a cohesive group. They work for nasa 40 or 50
Missiles to the moon to mars. And she joins us now here in the gallagher theater on the campus of the university of arizona. What was the common, the commonality they found among these women . These are women who loved math and science. But they were coming of age at a time when it was not an option for women. They were women going to school in the 1930s and 40s. They were frequently the only women in their math and science classes. I just heard that over and over again. And so you can imagine how it felt for them to come together and be part of this large group of women working at the jet propulsion laboratory. Did nasa have a specific program that encourage this . This was before nasa. So nasa studied in 1958. These women were hired in the 1940s and they were hired by a woman named nancy roberts. The reason she hired all women was because she felt like she had hired men they would listen to her simply because she was a woman. And this is a cohesive group. They work for nasa 40 or 50
And i were expecting my first baby and we were just having a real difficult time coming up with names, my husband suggested Eleanor Francis. There was this boom picture of her black and white, nasa in 1960s where shoes accepting an award and i was stunned by this picture because i had no idea that women worked at nasa at that time much less a scientists. I really wanted to learn more. There was a large group of women who worked at this laboratory starting in 1940s and they were known as computers so at the time a digital device we have today. Host how did this group of women come together at a time when engineering that was done at jpl was a rarity . An allwomen group because a woman named macy roberts. Macy roberts started very near inception and in 1942 she was made supervisor of the computers and while she had men that applied for the job, she decided that she wanted to make it all women. Her thinking is that she we wanted to make it a Cohesive Group, but she also was worried that i
Community. Far beyond its size, the discussion has raised for a long time. Religion matters a lot in the United States and in some ways more than ever. It can be polarizing and we have for a very long time. Not only are they religious minority but religious minority who over time have figured in this proportionately visible ways in the debates about religion in the state. And so have been caught in the cross hairs about big arguments about the place of faith in the United States. I started to experience discomfort of my religious identity once i left. My family when i was young we moved from utah to washington state. That was when i started to sense that people had discomfort with my religious identity and felt resistance to it. I remember in grade school having an elementary teacher respond awkwardly and negatively when i explained that i had been gone and left to utah for a general conference to my church and i sensed the distance that that comment created and her discomfort and i se
On book tvs afterwards, Science Writer Nathalia Holt chronicles the lives of an elite group of people who worked at the jet Propulsion Laboratorys in the 40s and 50s. She talks about her book, rise of the rocket girls with lisa grande of the system is sony and national air and space museum. Host thank you very much Nathalia Holt for being here with me to talk about your research and your new book about the socalled rocket girls of the jet Propulsion Laboratory before thank you for having me. Host i would like to begin by asking you how you discovered this group of women and how you decided to write about this largely forgotten pieceof American History . Guest its a strange coincidence. I came across this story circa 2010 and my husband and i were expecting our first baby and we were having a really difficult time coming up with names. Finally my husband suggested Eleanor Francis and i wasnt sure until i did what parents do these days and i googled the name and what popped up was a woma