You are paging through documents until your eyes tear. “I don’t have to tell anyone here how arduous research can be. Often, there will be more questions than answers until you get a handle on all the information. Sound familiar? Most times, custodian interviews lead to more custodian interviews. There were so many questions that I had at the beginning.” “That started me on a journey that would ultimately take six years. “When Katherine Johnson tells you that someone is the smartest person that she’s ever met, you pick up your pencil and write it down,” Margot said. Katherine referred to Dorothy as “the smartest person she knew.” Dorothy was in charge of the West Area computing group. Through her interviews with Katherine, Margot learned about Dorothy Vaughan. The white female mathematicians were the East Area Computers.

These women were referred to as the West Area Computers. Katherine joined NASA’s Langley office in 1953 and was part of a staff of 20 other black female mathematicians. Margot started her research by interviewing Katherine in 2000. Margot was no longer half listening her interest was piqued. “When we were driving, my husband, who is a writer, said, ‘Why haven’t I heard this story before?’” “At first, I was half listening,” Margot said. Katherine had a pivotal role at NASA-she calculated the launch window for astronauts. Margot’s father started talking about NASA's female mathematicians, including Katherine Johnson.

So, we ran into a woman who used to work at NASA Langley.” “When I say computer, I don’t mean a piece of electronic equipment discarded by the space agency,” she said. During their visit, they met what Margot referred to as a “NASA computer.” Margot’s father worked at NASA as an atmospheric research scientist. One year, Margot and her husband were visiting her parents in Virginia over the holidays.

“A little boy asked me: “If the figures were hidden, how did you find them?’” Margot said. The story details the lives of black female mathematicians working at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), particularly Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson.īefore starting research, Margot had to find inspiration to write the story. Hidden Figures is set in the 1930s through the 1960s.

“You are taking a bunch of facts and turning them into a story.” “I love the discovery process as it applies to writing,” Margot said. Writing and discovery may have more parallels than many of us realized. This process likely sounds familiar for e-discovery professionals. She also edited and reedited numerous drafts. Over six years, she interviewed subjects and reviewed documentation. Both involve research, organizing, analyzing, and crafting a narrative based on the facts.ĭuring Relativity Fest, Margot Lee Shetterly, the author of Hidden Figures, discussed her process for writing the nonfiction book. Writing-like the discovery process-is, well, a process.

Hidden figures author