Katherine Johnson is a noteworthy American Mathematician. Her full name is Creola Katherine Johnson. In 1953, she worked in NASA. While Katherine was working at NASA, she worked on the orbital machine. Her calculations in astrodynamics brought her immense success. She was one of the first Afro-Americans who worked on NASA. NASA also acknowledged her role as mentioning “historical role.”
Katherine Johnson achieved this honor for her extraordinary contribution. If you want to learn about the experience of Katherine Johnson, you may look over the Katherine Johnson quotes. The quotes represent the excellence and thoughts of her. By going through the excerpts, you can acquaint yourself with Katherine’s knowledge and wisdom.
Katherine Johnson Quotes:
1. “They needed information and I had it, and it didn’t matter that I found it. At the time, it was just a question and an answer.” – Katherine Johnson
2. “I liked working with smart people.” – Katherine Johnson
3. “There’s nothing to it; I was just doing my job.” – Katherine Johnson
4. “I don’t have a feeling of inferiority. Never had. I’m as good as anybody, but no better.” – Katherine Johnson
5. “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.” – Katherine Johnson
6. “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.” – Katherine Johnson
7. “I felt most proud on the success of the Apollo mission.” – Katherine Johnson
8. “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.” – Katherine Johnson
9. “We had to determine so much. Where you were, where the Moon would be and how fast the astronauts were going.” – Katherine Johnson
10. “I was just excited to have challenging work to do and smart people to work with.” – Katherine Johnson
11. “We always worked as a team. It’s never just one person.” – Katherine Johnson
12. “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.” – Katherine Johnson
13. “John Glenn’s life will long be remembered for his time in space, his courage, and his service to all Americans.” – Katherine Johnson
14. “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.” – Katherine Johnson
15. “I believed I was where I was supposed to be.” – Katherine Johnson
16. “My colleagues and I were committed to the work. We found different ways to deal with the segregation.” – Katherine Johnson
17. “Many professors tell you that you’d be good at this or that, but they don’t always help you with that career path.” – Katherine Johnson
18. “Take all the courses in your curriculum. Do the research. Ask questions. Find someone doing what you are interested in! Be curious!”– Katherine Johnson
19. “Know how to learn. Then, want to learn.” – Katherine Johnson
20. “I was excited at something new, always liked something new, but give credit to everybody who helped. I didn’t do anything alone but try to go to the root of the question and succeeded there.” – Katherine Johnson
21. “I see a picture right now that’s not parallel, so I’m going to go straighten it. Things must be in order.” – Katherine Johnson
22. “I like to learn. That’s an art and a science.” – Katherine Johnson
23. “I’m just lucky — the Lord likes me and I like him.” – Katherine Johnson
24. “All jobs are important to somebody. They had to be important to somebody. My theory is, do the best you can all the time. No fooling around.” – Katherine Johnson
25. “We always worked as a team. It’s never just one person.” – Katherine Johnson
Katherine Johnson quotes about mathematics
26. “Everything is physics and math.” – Katherine Johnson
27. “In math, you’re either right or you’re wrong.” – Katherine Johnson
28. “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.” – Katherine Johnson
29. “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.” – Katherine Johnson
Powerful Katherine Johnson quotes
30. “Girls are capable of doing everything men are capable of doing. Sometimes they have more imagination than men.” – Katherine Johnson
31. “I found what I was looking for at Langley. This was what a research mathematician did. I went to work every day for 33 years happy. Never did I get up and say I don’t want to go to work.” – Katherine Johnson
32. “Like what you do, and then you will do your best.” – Katherine Johnson
33. “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.” – Katherine Johnson
34. “I entered college; I was 15. I was going to be a math teacher because that was it. You could be a math teacher or a nurse, but I was told I would make a good research mathematician and they had me take all of the courses in the catalog.” – Katherine Johnson
35. “Go see ‘Hidden Figures,’ and take a young person! It will give a more positive outlook on what is possible if you work hard, do your best, and are prepared.” – Katherine Johnson
36. “Follow your passion. Whatever you’re doing, do your best at all times and make it as correct as possible. Work as if someone is watching you. Then you’ll be prepared when an opportunity presents itself. And you’ll have the answers.” – Katherine Johnson
37. “Girls, some of them are reluctant to ask questions. But if you want to know, you ask the question. There’s no such thing as a dumb question. It’s dumb if you don’t ask it.” – Katherine Johnson
38. “Men don’t pay attention to small things.” – Katherine Johnson
39. “I had a very, very interesting childhood, but, oh my, education was the primary focus in our family.”– Katherine Johnson
40. “You should always be interested in something.” – Katherine Johnson
Biography of Katherine Johnson:
Family life and early life:
Katherine’s birthplace is West Virginia. Her mother’s name is Joylette Roberta Coleman (Lowe). She was a school teacher. Katherine’s father’s name is Joshua McKinley Coleman. He worked as a lumberman, handyman, and farmer.
Katherine Johnson had three elder siblings. From an early age, Katherine Johnson showed her interest in Mathematics. In her childhood, she also showed her extraordinary abilities in Mathematics.
Education:
Previously we have mentioned that Katherine Johnson was an African-American. The African-American students were not allowed in all the educational institutions. Greenbrier County did not allow also. So, Katherine attended a school on the campus of WVSC (West Virginia State College).
After that, she admitted to the West Virginia State College. This institute is historically black. When she was a student at this college, she took every Mathematics course. She got the opportunity to be nurtured by renowned professors. One of Katherine’s teachers, a famous Mathematician, W.W.Schieffelin Claytor, had added a new Mathematics course for her.
Career:
Katherine Johnson started her career as a Mathematics teacher in a black public school in Virginia. She left the job after her marriage. Later, Katherine decided to build her career as a Research Mathematician. As she was an African-American and a woman, so, it was quite a challenging sector for her.
In 1953, Katherine got a job opportunity from NASA and accepted that offer. At first, her responsibility was to perform Math Calculation. Later she worked for the flight Research Team. She worked in NASA till 1986.
Why should we follow Katherine Johnson?
If we go through the life history of Katherine Johnson, we’ll find that, from her childhood, she faced racial discrimination. As she was an Afro-American, she did not get the opportunity to read her desired school. For being black, the chances of life had become limited for her. She and her parents did not lose hope.
Instead, they found an alternative for her. Katherine’s parents managed a right school and college for her better education. Katherine Johnson showed her interest in Mathematics from an early age. Her parents gave utmost priority to her interest and abilities in Mathematics.
If we look over Katherine’s career, we also find discrimination in her workplace. She faced racial and gender discrimination in her workplace. He admitted this and said that she always ignored this discrimination.
