20 Katherine Johnson

Katherine Johnson

Time period:

Born Aug 26, 1918

Died Feb 24, 2020, age of 101

Hired by NACA in 1953

Retired from NASA in 1986

Subject:

Mathematics & Aeronautics

Biography:

Katherine Johnson was an African-American mathematician for NASA who made contributions to mathematics and space exploration.

Born on August 26th 1918 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, she attended high school on the campus of West Virginia State College, a historically black school. While there she excelled in mathematics. She would later enroll at the same college under the mentorship of W. W. Schieffelin Claytor, an African-American PhD mathematician. She graduated in 1937 with degrees in mathematics and French. She would then take on a job as a teacher at a black public school in Marion, Virginia. It was not until 1953 where she accepted a job from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The NACA was hiring mathematicians both white and of colour for their Guidance and Navigation Department. The NACA would later be dissolved and integrated into the department known as NASA.

During her time as a mathematician at NACA and NASA, Johnson faced racial discrimination and prejudice as an African-American woman working in a white and male dominated field. Her resilience to persevere despite the hardship showcased the determination she had.

Summary of their contributions:

During her time as a mathematician at NASA, Katherine was pivotal in performing manual calculations for space exploration and aeronautics. Such calculations included launch windows for spacecraft, orbital paths for the Apollo lunar module and laying the foundation for the Space Shuttle program. It was in 1962 that Johnson was called upon to do the work that she is most famous for. During the lead up to the John H. Glenn’s orbital mission, it was up to Johnson and the team she was on to make sure the computers being programmed orbital calculations were performing accurately. The astronauts trusted her calculations with their lives more than that of the programmed computers.

In 2015, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. In 2021, following her passing, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. In current media her story, along with that of other African-American scientists, was portrayed in the movie Hidden FIgures which released in 2016.

Integration with the BC Secondary Science Curriculum:

Katherine Johnson, as a mathematician who aided with space exploration, would make a great addition as a diverse scientist in discussion on space. Specifically in discussing orbital motion and objects moving in space. This is mainly found in the physics 12 curriculum, where there are multiple content objectives centered around learning gravity, orbits and motion of objects in space. By connecting Johnosn’s story to the learning objectives, it can be shown how the equations we use are put into practice and utilized in the real world. This could include a viewing of the movie, by simplified versions of the calculations used by Johnson or a combination of the two. The main takeaway for students when introducing Johnson though would be how even against overwhelming odds, through resilience great things can be achieved.

References:

Area of Learning: SCIENCE- Physics. British Columbia Ministry of Education.  https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/sites/curriculum.gov.bc.ca/files/curriculum/science/en_science_12_physics_elab.pdf

Shetterly, M. L. (2016, November 22). Katherine Johnson Biography. NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/langley/katherine-johnson-biography/

Tikkanen, A. (2023, December 5). Katherine Johnson American Mathematician. Britannica.https://www.britannica.com/biography/Katherine-Johnson-mathematician