The stories in Rise of the Rocket Girls are fun, intense, and endearing, and they give a new perspective on the rise of the space age....We highly recommend reading it. -Popular Science In the 1940s, when the newly minted Jet Propulsion Laboratory needed quick-thinking mathematicians, they recruited an elite group of young women-known as human computers-who, with only pencil, paper, and brain power, helped bring about Americas first ballistic missiles. But their hearts lay in the dream of space exploration, and when JPL became part of NASA, the computers helped send the first probes to the moon. Later, through their efforts, we launched the ships that showed us the contours of our solar system. For the first time, Nathalia Holt tells the stories of these women, who charted a course not only for the future of space exploration but also for the prospects of female scientists. Based on extensive research and interviews with the living members of the team, Rise of the Rocket Girls illuminates the role of women in science, both where weve been, and the far reaches of space to which were heading.