- Before GPS.
- Before Google Maps.
- There was Gladys West.
- A Black farm girl from segregated Virginia whose math made modern navigation possible.
Born to sharecroppers during the Great Depression, Gladys chopped wood, picked tobacco, and walked three miles to a one-room schoolhouse. She was told her choices were the fields or the factory. She chose mathematics.
Valedictorian. Full scholarship. One of the few Black women in a male-dominated field. In 1956, she quietly broke barriers at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Virginia.
In the 1970s and 80s, her geoid models did what no one else could. They accounted for Earth’s gravity, tides, and subtle wobble, making satellite positioning accurate enough for GPS to work. No hype. No headlines. Just brilliance.
GPS went live in 1995.
Google Maps followed in 2005.
Her work made both possible.
She led the Seasat satellite project, processed massive planetary calculations, and endured racism with steady excellence. The world used her work long before it knew her name.
Long overdue flowers:
* Air Force Space & Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame
* Prince Philip Medal for Engineering
* BBC 100 Women
* Webby Lifetime Achievement
Hidden figures change the world quietly.
Gladys West changed how the world finds itself.
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