Math is different from any subject matter in many ways. For example, math is spoken in numbers while almost every other topic is spoken with words. Math also uses a different part of your brain than most disciplines. However, as showcased by award-winning film Hidden Figures, math is most significantly unique in it’s ability to break down barriers created by race, gender, and socioeconomic differences and prejudices. The first article, ‘Exploring the Math in 'Hidden Figures', takes a very math-centric approach to talking about Hidden Figures. At one point in the preparation taking place at NASA before an astronomic journey, all of the people working through a calculation seemed to be stumped. This changed when an African-American woman contributing
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The article shows this by telling the story of John Glenn, one of the most famous and respected astronauts ever, asking Katherine Goble to verify that the calculations the other mathematicians made were in fact valid. Katherine was an African-American woman, and this event took place during the times of segregation. The writer, Megan Garber, uses this event to portray that in the realm of mathematics, Glenn saw Katherine as at least equals and maybe even higher in class than the other calculators, most of whom were white males. In every other sector of the world, the men would far out-rank the woman, but in math, ability is the only factor. The writer continues to speak about this unique aspect of math, saying that math “celebrates the power of collective genius - and it is numbers that allow that genius to reveal itself” (Garber 2017). Numbers do this because in math and numbers, there is no subjectivity and answers can be verified. The piece also dips into discussion about movies about space in general and trends that often appear in space movies. The article ponders how when we go to space in movies, we leave Earth and observe it from a different perspective. As the writer put it, we “gaze at the planet as a whole, and (are) awed by its beauty, and (are) disappointed by the cruelties that can happen within”
The article shows this by telling the story of John Glenn, one of the most famous and respected astronauts ever, asking Katherine Goble to verify that the calculations the other mathematicians made were in fact valid. Katherine was an African-American woman, and this event took place during the times of segregation. The writer, Megan Garber, uses this event to portray that in the realm of mathematics, Glenn saw Katherine as at least equals and maybe even higher in class than the other calculators, most of whom were white males. In every other sector of the world, the men would far out-rank the woman, but in math, ability is the only factor. The writer continues to speak about this unique aspect of math, saying that math “celebrates the power of collective genius - and it is numbers that allow that genius to reveal itself” (Garber 2017). Numbers do this because in math and numbers, there is no subjectivity and answers can be verified. The piece also dips into discussion about movies about space in general and trends that often appear in space movies. The article ponders how when we go to space in movies, we leave Earth and observe it from a different perspective. As the writer put it, we “gaze at the planet as a whole, and (are) awed by its beauty, and (are) disappointed by the cruelties that can happen within”