Katherine Johnson
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Katherine Johnson (August 26, 1918 – February 24, 2020) was an American human computer whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. crewed spaceflights.
Quotes
[edit]- English Quotation
- “Girls are capable of doing everything men are capable of doing. Sometimes they have more imagination than men.”
- “I don’t have a feeling of inferiority. Never had. I’m as good as anybody, but no better.”
- “We will always have STEM with us. Some things will drop out of the public eye and will go away, but there will always be science, engineering, and technology. And there will always, always be mathematics.”
- “We needed to be assertive as women in those days – assertive and aggressive – and the degree to which we had to be that way depended on where you were. I had to be.”
- “I like to learn. That’s an art and a science.”
- “In math, you’re either right or you’re wrong.”
- “I counted everything. I counted the steps to the road, the steps up to church, the number of dishes and silverware I washed … anything that could be counted, I did.”
- “The women did what they were told to do. They didn’t ask questions or take the task any further. I asked questions; I wanted to know why. They got used to me asking questions and being the only woman there.”
- “You are no better than anyone else, and no one is better than you.”
- “Take all the courses in your curriculum. Do the research. Ask questions. Find someone doing what you are interested in! Be curious!”
- “I see a picture right now that’s not parallel, so I’m going to go straighten it. Things must be in order.”
- “Everything was so new – the whole idea of going into space was new and daring. There were no textbooks, so we had to write them.”
- “Let me do it. You tell me when you want it and where you want it to land, and I’ll do it backwards and tell you when to take off.”
- https://wearetechwomen.com/inspirational-quotes-katherine-johnson-nasa-mathematician/
- In the cafeteria, we just ignored the sign [for segregated seating]. But at some point, we started eating at our desks. When we left work, our lives were definitely separate — separate communities, separate schools for our children, separate grocery stores and churches.
- But then we’d be back with our colleagues on the job. People are people. My father’s advice helped. He said, “You’re no better than anybody else, but nobody is better than you.”
- I was always interested in math. I counted everything as a child — the number of steps up the stairs, the dishes, the steps to church. Those thoughts just came naturally. While I skipped grades in school, my parents made sure I stayed grounded.
- It’s just there. You can’t do anything without it. It’s in everything. I like to work problems. If you do your best, nobody can ask you to do it over again. I never had to repeat what I did.
- I believed I was where I was supposed to be. When I was a student, my mentor told me I’d make a good research mathematician. I said, “What is that?” and he told me I’d have to find out for myself. At NASA, I happened to be at the right place at the right time. When you put bright people in a room and they had something to do, they worked on it until they got it done. But honestly, it was never work to me.
- We put in some long hours at times, and I had three children at home. But they were very responsible, and I had family and friends who helped look after them.
- I’ve spent a lot of time tutoring kids in math as a volunteer. I’ve always enjoyed helping people understand what they can find in math. There’s no judgment there.
