Katherine Johnson (1918-2020) was the math genius who helped launch astronauts into space and broke barriers on Earth. Born in West Virginia, she was a prodigy who zoomed through school, starting college at just 15. Her love for numbers landed her at NASA, where her calculations made history.
Johnson was part of the brilliant "Hidden Figures" team of Black women mathematicians who kept the space program soaring. She crunched the numbers for missions like John Glenn’s orbit of Earth and the Apollo moon landings, earning the nickname "human computer."
With her brainpower and perseverance, Johnson shattered stereotypes and helped open doors for women and people of color in STEM. She showed the world that math really is rocket science—and she rocked it.
Katherine Johnson in our catalog