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Katherine Johnson, the mathematician who contributed hugely to the work of the US space agency NASA, has died at the age of 101. In the 1950s she was one of a group of women known as the West Area Computers, all African-American female mathematicians performing vital work for the growing aeronautics industry, and the inspiration for the 2016 film Hidden Figures.

Katherine then went on to work at NASA, most famously providing the trajectory calculations for Apollo 11 to land on the Moon in 1969. Her legacy is significant, not just for the space industry, but also as a symbol of the struggle of African-American women at a time of cultural apartheid.

Today is the 2nd February 2020, or 02/02/2020. It’s one of that rare breed of palindrome, the like of which won’t be seen again until a little over a century hence (and you can work out what that one will be!)

I rather like all those twos and zeros, a bit like polarised particles coalescing into the void. Out of the silent universe comes all complexity.

Let’s hope we all manage to move forward from today with something approaching 20-20 vision.

The Three Friends is a wonderful story for children about friendship, written and beautifully illustrated by Samantha Howatson. This magical book is available in paperback now, published by Jelly Bean Books.

You can buy it on Amazon here:

The Three Friends

It’s the summer solstice today (June 21st), or the winter solstice if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere. Time to celebrate the life-affirming tilt of the North Pole by 23.5° towards the Sun, even though apparently summer solstice days are getting shorter – the longest one ever recorded was in 1912, which gave us an extra 4 milliseconds on top of our standard 24 hours. But don’t worry if you miss it completely – it’ll be solstice on Mars in a few days!