This book tells the story of Dorothy Vaughan, a computer programmer and decoder, who was also featured in the movie Hidden Figures. Her story is so important for many reasons- she was an advocate for civil rights, womens rights, and expanding womens' roles in science. Until her role, science had been a male-dominated industry for so long, specifically the field of aeronautics. Dorothy helped put a man in space, and her legacy has inspired women worldwide to use their talents to contribute to science. I would incorporate this story into a math unit, possibly for 3rd or 4th graders. Great book! ( )

Computer Decoder is a picture book about a computer scientist named Dorothy Vaughan; she was a human-computer, meaning numbers made sense to her. Later in life, Dorothy received a job at Langly Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory as a human-computer. She understood the numbers and complicated calculations, but the segregation which took place did not make sense to her; however, she did not let that stop her from achieving her goals. Dorothy soon became the first African American supervisor at Langly and later became an expert at writing computer code for NASA. I LOVED THIS BOOK! I rated this book five stars out of five because I love the story of Dorothy Vaughan and all that she accomplished in her life during times when segregation was prevalent in American society. I would use this storybook to introduce the Jim Crow Laws and discrimination in my fifth through seventh-grade classroom. One thing I noticed was the phrase, "This made sense to her," bolded throughout the story. I think this phrase is a detail the author tried to make apparent throughout the book. Dorothy could understand complicated things, like numbers and computer codes, however, segregation was one thing that did not make any sense and was something that should not be occurring in society at the time. After seeing the movie Hidden Figures, I fell in love with Dorothy Vaughan and the other women who helped send men to space, and this is a book that I look forward to having in my classroom. ( )