1. People
    2.  › 
  2. Theodore Melfi

Theodore Melfi Quotes

Total quotes: 11
“In all my years of teaching I’ve never seen a mind like the one your daughter has.”
— Ms. Sumner, Hidden Figures
Tagged: College, Math, Genius, Prodigy
“[to Mary] I don’t want to see you get hurt. NASA’s never ever given you guys your due. Having a couple of extra degree ain’t gonna change that. Civil rights ain’t always civil.”
— Levi Jackson, Hidden Figures
Tagged: NASA, Civil Rights
“If the product of two terms is zero then common sense says at least one of the two terms has to be zero to start with. So if you move all the terms over to one side, you can put the quadratics into a form that can be factored allowing that side of the equation to equal zero. Once you’ve done that, it’s pretty straightforward from there.”
— Young Katherine Coleman, Hidden Figures
Tagged: College, Math, quadratic equstions
“[whilst Katherine is in class]

Professor Graves: Ms. Coleman, why don’t you solve the equation on the board?

[back to Katherine’s parents with her principal and teacher]

Ms. Sumner: We took up a collection amongst the teachers and such. It’s not a lot, but it’s enough to help get you settled in.

Younger Joylette Coleman: That’s more than kind, Ms. Sumner.”
— Marion Smithson (as G. Williams), Hidden Figures
Tagged: College, Math, Teachers
“[as Mary goes to hitchhike she notices a police car approaching them]

Mary Jackson: Girls.

Dorothy Vaughan: No crime in a broken-down car.

Mary Jackson: No crime being Negro neither.

Katherine Johnson: Button it up, Mary. Nobody wants to go to jail behind your mouth.

Mary Jackson: I’ll do my best, sugar.

[the cop car pulls up by them and get out of his vehicle]

White Cop: Not a great place for three of y’all be having car trouble.

Mary Jackson: We didn’t pick the place, Officer. It picked us.

White Cop: Are you being disrespectful?

Mary Jackson: No, sir.

White Cop: You have identification on you?

Mary Jackson: Yes, sir.

Katherine Johnson: Yes, sir. We’re just on our way to work at Langley. NASA, sir.

[all three show him their IDs]

Dorothy Vaughan: We do a great deal of the calculating, getting our rockets into space.

White Cop: All three of you?

Katherine Johnson: Yes, sir.

Mary Jackson: Yes, Officer.

[he takes Mary’s ID and looks at it]

White Cop: NASA, now that’s something. I had no idea they hired…

Dorothy Vaughan: There are quite a few women working in the space program.”
— Mary Jackson, Hidden Figures
Tagged: Cars, hitchhiking, NASA, negro, disrespectful
“White Cop: Damn Russians are watching us right now. Sputniks. You girls ever meet those astronauts? Mercury Seven?

Mary Jackson: Absolutely.

Katherine Johnson: Uh, yes, sir. We work with those gentlemen all the time.

White Cop: Those boys are the best we got. I’m sure of that.

Katherine Johnson: Yeah.

Mary Jackson: Yeah.

White Cop: We got to get a man up there before the commies do.

Katherine Johnson: Yes.

Mary Jackson: Absolutely.

White Cop: Whole damn country’s counting on them.

Dorothy Vaughan: That’s for certain.

Mary Jackson: Hard being of service broken down on the side of the road, though.

White Cop: Right, right. Uh, well, do y’all need a tow or something?

Dorothy Vaughan: No, thank you, Officer. I think I got it. Just give me my…

[Katherine reaches in the car and passes something to Dorothy]

Dorothy Vaughan: Just need to bypass the starter.

Katherine Johnson: She’s good at this stuff.

[Dorothy quickly gets the car started]

Dorothy Vaughan: Wooh! Attagirl. We’re all set.

White Cop: Well, hell, the least I can do is give y’all an escort. I imagine you’re running late to work.

Katherine Johnson: Oh, no, sir. We wouldn’t want to bother you.

Mary Jackson: That would be wonderful, Officer. Thank you so much, sir.

White Cop: Follow me.

Mary Jackson: I’m driving. Hurry up, Dorothy, before he changes his mind.

Dorothy Vaughan: We’re coming. Hold your horses.”
— Mary Jackson, Hidden Figures
Tagged: Cars, russians, Sputnik, Commies
“Dorothy Vaughan: Mrs. Mitchell, If I could. My application for supervisor, ma’am. I was just wondering if they’re still considering me for that position.

Vivian Mitchell: Yes. Well, the official word is no. They’re not assigning a permanent supervisor for the colored group.

Dorothy Vaughan: May I ask why?

Vivian Mitchell: I don’t know why. I didn’t ask why.

Dorothy Vaughan: We need a supervisor, ma’am. We haven’t had one since Miss Jansen got sick. It’s been almost a year.

Vivian Mitchell: Things are working just fine as-is.

Dorothy Vaughan: I’m doing the work of a supervisor.

Vivian Mitchell: Well, that’s NASA for you. Fast with rocket ships, slow with advancement. Get those trajectory calcs worked out, we need them for the Redstone test.”
— Al Harrison, Hidden Figures
Tagged: NASA, Rocket Ships
“Al Harrison: Ruth, what’s the status on that computer?

Ruth: She’s right behind you, Mr. Harrison.

[he turns and sees Katherine]

Al Harrison: Does she handle Analytic Geometry?

Ruth: Absolutely, and she speaks.

Katherine Johnson: Yes, sir, I do.

Al Harrison: Which one?

Katherine Johnson: Both. Geometry and speaking.

Al Harrison: Ruth, get me the…

[Ruth hands him a piece of paper]

Al Harrison: You think you, uh, you think you can find me the Frenet Frame for this data using the Gram-Schmidt…

Katherine Johnson: Orthogonalization algorithm. Yes, sir. I prefer it over Euclidean coordinates.

Al Harrison: Okay, good. Good, then I’m going to need it by the end of the day.

Katherine Johnson: Yes.

Al Harrison: I’m also going to ask you to check Mr. Stafford’s math as well as others’ on this floor from time to time.

Paul Stafford: I can, I can handle that, Al.

Al Harrison: I’m sure you can, Paul. I’m sure they all can. But if that were the case shingles wouldn’t be flying off the heat shield, now would they?”
— Al Harrison, Hidden Figures
Tagged: NASA, Algorithms, Geometry, Frenet Frame
“[referring to their meeting with Jim Webb]

Al Harrison: How did that feel in there, Paul? You think you enlightened the administrator? Hm? No, he didn’t look enlightened to me. He look enlightened to you, Sam?

Sam Turner: Not particularly.

Al Harrison: And just so you know, he’s not wrong about what he said in there. You know that, right? Because now that they can get up there, a bomb will follow. It’s what happens to all our good ideas. I imagine theirs too. Where’s… Where’s the machine?

Ruth: Any day now, Mr. Harrison.

Al Harrison: Any day now.

Ruth: Yes, sir.

Al Harrison: What’s it called? The initials?

Ruth: The IBM.

Paul Stafford: International Business Machines.

Al Harrison: Space is a business. I need a mathematician.

Ruth: I’ll put in another request, sir.

Al Harrison: Another request. Jesus Christ. We don’t have a single person in this entire building that can handle analytic geometry?

Ruth: That’s what I’ve been told.

Al Harrison: Tell me something else, Ruth, like we’re going to find such a person before the Russians plant a flag on the damn moon.”
— Al Harrison, Hidden Figures
Tagged: russians, Spies, NASA, Space Program, IBM
“[escorting Katherine to the Space Task Group] Skirts must be worn past the knee. Sweaters are preferred to blouses. No jewelry. A simple pearl necklace is the exception. Your supervisor is Mr. Al Harrison, Director of the Space Task Group. You’ll write research, proof calculations, so forth. Do not talk to Mr. Harrison unless he talks to you. Not many computers last more than a few days. He’s been through a dozen in as many months. Come on, keep up. Things move fast around here. Your clearance. [she gives Katherine her ID badge] They’ve never had a colored in here before, Katherine. Don’t embarrass me.”
— Vivian Mitchell, Hidden Figures
Tagged: NASA, Segregation, colored
“Marion Smithson: West Virginia Collegiate Institute is the best school for Negroes in the state.

Ms. Sumner: It’s the only school past the eighth grade anywhere near here.

[we see young Katherine sitting outside talking to herself as she does math calculations]

Young Katherine Coleman: Isosceles. Scalene. Equilateral. Rhombus. Trapezoid.

Joshua Coleman: Katherine’s in the sixth grade.

Ms. Sumner: They want to take her early.

Young Katherine Coleman: Tetrahedron. Dodecahedron.

Marion Smithson: They’re offering a full scholarship. All you have to do is get there.”
— Marion Smithson (as G. Williams), Hidden Figures
Tagged: Negroes, College, West Virginia, Math
loading next page...