Rating: 
Summary: We've come a long way, baby....thank heavens!
Review: "The Mercury 13" is an amazing story of how [discrimination] in the early years of the American space program shut women out. We should be ashamed that the Soviet Union had a woman in space decades before Sally Ride finally broke the gender barrier in the U.S. Martha Ackmann is to be congratulated for bringing the stories of these incredible and patriotic women to light.
Rating:
Summary: An important story
Review: "Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them and try to follow them." When Louisa May Alcott wrote these words, she likely had no idea that one day women would not only look beyond the sunshine, but travel beyond the stars to brave new frontiers in outer space.Thanks to the brave and trailblazing women of the Mercury 13, today there are dozens of women throughout America's space program who are changing history: Administrators and managers; engineers, technologists, and astrobiologists; astronauts who are mission specialists, pilots and commanders; astronomers and astrophysicists, biologists, chemists, computer scientists, system specialists and programmers; aeronautics, aerospace, biological, chemical and biomedical engineers; educators who reach out to the public; computer and design engineers; environmental specialists and geologists; pharmacologists and psychologists.... The list goes on and on. In her book, "Composing a Life," Mary Catherine Bates aptly equates life with a work in progress, an improvisatory art in which each individual learns to combine familiar and unfamiliar components in response to new situations. This is true for men and women in all walks of life, but it is especially relevant for women in aeronautics. For not only are they taking their well-deserved places next to the brave men who fly combat missions and pilot space shuttles -they are also redefining the roles of women in a society that still struggles with gender equality in all professions. Kudos to Martha Ackmann and Lynn Sherr for telling the story of the Mercury 13!
Rating:
Summary: An important story
Review: "Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them and try to follow them." When Louisa May Alcott wrote these words, she likely had no idea that one day women would not only look beyond the sunshine, but travel beyond the stars to brave new frontiers in outer space. Thanks to the brave and trailblazing women of the Mercury 13, today there are dozens of women throughout America's space program who are changing history: Administrators and managers; engineers, technologists, and astrobiologists; astronauts who are mission specialists, pilots and commanders; astronomers and astrophysicists, biologists, chemists, computer scientists, system specialists and programmers; aeronautics, aerospace, biological, chemical and biomedical engineers; educators who reach out to the public; computer and design engineers; environmental specialists and geologists; pharmacologists and psychologists.... The list goes on and on. In her book, "Composing a Life," Mary Catherine Bates aptly equates life with a work in progress, an improvisatory art in which each individual learns to combine familiar and unfamiliar components in response to new situations. This is true for men and women in all walks of life, but it is especially relevant for women in aeronautics. For not only are they taking their well-deserved places next to the brave men who fly combat missions and pilot space shuttles -they are also redefining the roles of women in a society that still struggles with gender equality in all professions. Kudos to Martha Ackmann and Lynn Sherr for telling the story of the Mercury 13!
Rating:
Summary: These Women Had The Right Stuff!
Review: As a young boy when President Kennedy promised we would land a man on the moon, I found myself awed, inspired,and thrilled by those early Mercury astronauts who brought being anAmerican to life for children ofmy age and generation. Reading this book so many years later, describingthe heroic women who shared the aspiration to reach for the stars themselves, I feel just as thrilled, awed and inspired by their dream and their efforts to pursue it. This isa wonderful book written with passion, humor, and love about women who daredto dream, who battled a system that was not quite ready to bring equality to the planets, but who persevered nonetheless. Who needs reality television? Read this book for true life stories of some of the bravest and most talented and ambitious pilots who ever soared into the skies. Read about their exploits, their achievements, the missions they accomplished and thetests they surpassed. It is true, you will also read about politicians who couldn't go the last mile to accept their highest aspiration, and bureaucrats too slow-witted to rise above the limits of those times. But in the end, this is a quintessentially American story about real American heroes, who embodied the ideals that make reaching into space an expression of our daring, imagination, courage and vision. These women had The Right Stuff, and while they did not reach their ultimate dream of walking on the moon, their great triumph was not merely in their great achievements throughout their careers, which were enormous. Their truest triumph was that their pioneering spirit and courage not only advanced the cause of other women who are making those journeys today, but advanced the cause of a grateful nation, men and women alike, who, like me, will stand and salute the spirit described in this wonderful and magisterial book.
Rating: 
Summary: A Must Read!
Review: Here is the story of 13 heroic women who were willing to risk it all for the unattainable dream of spaceflight. Their story is one of striking courage and resilience. As a 14 year old girl, I am proud to call the Mercury 13 my heroes!
Rating:
Summary: All systems go!
Review: Here's a book that has potential to fuel a few debates. Written by Martha Ackmann, a professor of Women's Studies at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, the topic hits an unexpected intersection of interests: Early days of manned space flight at NASA, and women's rights. Most readers won't have heard of The Mercury 13, an unofficial group of stalwart women airplane pilots, all tested for potential to become astronauts by the private Lovelace Foundation at the dawn of the space race. While national focus lasered on Alan Shepherd, John Glenn, and the rest of the famous and flamboyant Mercury 7 astronauts who flew the first orbital missions, Jerrie Cobb and her compatriot lady flyers quietly matched, and sometimes surpassed, the test results of the male heros. Accomplished flyers, and businesswomen, the individuals of this group held many aeronautical records and won many air derbys. Some were graduates of the WAC programs of the Second World War, spearheaded by Jackie Cochran. Ackmann paints vivid portraits of each potential astronaut-candidate, and one can easily like these devoted flyers. (Interestingly, the author focuses heavily on the self-destructive political infighting between Cochran and Cobb for leadership of the women-in-space program.) It's fascinating to "uncover" this group some forty years later. Who knew? Beyond a few publicity shots that appeared in Life magazine and in hometown papers, the women were hidden, unsanctioned as an official group of any kind, almost a curiosity. Yet, many points raised by Professor Ackmann are provocative: Women weighed less than male counterparts - and would require less rocket fuel; and why was there a requirement of jet-flying experience for astronauts when many animals (female, no less!) were sent aloft in the space capsules. So where's the argument? Clearly, Ackmann launches this retrospective on the women-in-space efforts with the intention of demonstrating blatant sexism and its negative effects. Viewed through the lens of post-feminism, one clearly sees malfeasance - from President Johnson who nixes any further testing, to a Neanderthal congressman who jokes about the need for women in space for reproductive purposes to colonize planets. Yet, a young and innocent John Glenn just can't see beyond what he and America know as the social norms of the times. In 1963, the nation was a decade away from any kind of equal opportunity awareness, and perhaps two decades away from the emergence of political correctness. Were the male leaders of the space program worried about protecting an existing social order, or just worried about beating the Russians to the moon? Therein, the debate. (Enjoy it - far better for you to argue this with your spouse than waste another hour on Reality TV.)
Rating:
Summary: All systems go!
Review: Here's a book that has potential to fuel a few debates. Written by Martha Ackmann, a professor of Women's Studies at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, the topic hits an unexpected intersection of interests: Early days of manned space flight at NASA, and women's rights. Most readers won't have heard of The Mercury 13, an unofficial group of stalwart women airplane pilots, all tested for potential to become astronauts by the private Lovelace Foundation at the dawn of the space race. While national focus lasered on Alan Shepherd, John Glenn, and the rest of the famous and flamboyant Mercury 7 astronauts who flew the first orbital missions, Jerrie Cobb and her compatriot lady flyers quietly matched, and sometimes surpassed, the test results of the male heros. Accomplished flyers, and businesswomen, the individuals of this group held many aeronautical records and won many air derbys. Some were graduates of the WAC programs of the Second World War, spearheaded by Jackie Cochran. Ackmann paints vivid portraits of each potential astronaut-candidate, and one can easily like these devoted flyers. (Interestingly, the author focuses heavily on the self-destructive political infighting between Cochran and Cobb for leadership of the women-in-space program.) It's fascinating to "uncover" this group some forty years later. Who knew? Beyond a few publicity shots that appeared in Life magazine and in hometown papers, the women were hidden, unsanctioned as an official group of any kind, almost a curiosity. Yet, many points raised by Professor Ackmann are provocative: Women weighed less than male counterparts - and would require less rocket fuel; and why was there a requirement of jet-flying experience for astronauts when many animals (female, no less!) were sent aloft in the space capsules. So where's the argument? Clearly, Ackmann launches this retrospective on the women-in-space efforts with the intention of demonstrating blatant sexism and its negative effects. Viewed through the lens of post-feminism, one clearly sees malfeasance - from President Johnson who nixes any further testing, to a Neanderthal congressman who jokes about the need for women in space for reproductive purposes to colonize planets. Yet, a young and innocent John Glenn just can't see beyond what he and America know as the social norms of the times. In 1963, the nation was a decade away from any kind of equal opportunity awareness, and perhaps two decades away from the emergence of political correctness. Were the male leaders of the space program worried about protecting an existing social order, or just worried about beating the Russians to the moon? Therein, the debate. (Enjoy it - far better for you to argue this with your spouse than waste another hour on Reality TV.)
Rating: 
Summary: If you enjoyed this book or are thinking or reading it...
Review: Read Stephanie Nolen's "Promised the Moon: The Untold Story of the First Women in the Space Race" instead.
Nolen does an amazing job of contexualizing why these women were selected and why they ultimately remained grounded. If you must choose between Mercury 13 and Promisted the Moon I would go with the second book. Better researched and very well written. Highly recommend.
Rating:
Summary: If you enjoyed this book or are thinking or reading it...
Review: Read Stephanie Nolen's "Promised the Moon: The Untold Story of the First Women in the Space Race" instead.
Nolen does an amazing job of contexualizing why these women were selected and why they ultimately remained grounded. If you must choose between Mercury 13 and Promisted the Moon I would go with the second book. Better researched and very well written. Highly recommend.
Rating:
Summary: We've come a long way, baby....thank heavens!
Review: Research, research, research... Ms. Ackmann has really done her homework on all the players involved in the Mercury 13 or FLAT (First Lady Astronaut Trainee) program. She did extensive personal interviewing with the surviving women of the program, and it shows. Her writing gets you "into" the story and you won't want to put it down.
A classic example of truth being stranger than fiction. Now that we have the luxury of time to look back on these events, besides blaming the social conditions of the times, possibly this book can now serve as a benchmark of lessons learned and hopefully not to be repeated. Highly recommend for every parent of girls and boys. Read it to your kids, and help them understand what happened. Check this book out, now. As an archive Librarian I have a great appreciation for the work that went into this book. It is a GREAT READ! And you won't be disappointed. Remember....all others came after this one. Enjoy!
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