Finished this a few weeks back. Really, really liked it. Both the life side and the crazy nerdy physics and math stuff. It bothers me a little bit (though it doesn’t surprise me) that this is really the first time this part of history has been brought to the public’s attention. History tends to ignore those things and people in the background, those who do the stuff that allows the “big” names to take the glory and credit.
Just as I was finishing the book, I caught part of the movie Apollo 13 on tv. I’ve always loved the movie for its generally great movie-ness (pacing, story, ability to keep the view at the edge even though it’s well known how it ends), but this time I saw it in a little bit of a different light. Women aren’t represented at ALL in the film except as wives and mothers (and yes I know, it was based on Lost Moon which is Jim Lovell’s telling of events). The thing is there are moments in the film that take place in the back rooms and hallways with the people who did the math and so there had to be women there.
