Prologue 1
Chapter 1 Setting the Scene 5
Chapter 2 A Door Opens 10
Chapter 3 Mobilization 18
Chapter 4 A New Beginning 26
Chapter 5 The Double V 30
Chapter 6 The "Colored" Computers 37
Chapter 7 War Birds 48
Chapter 8 The Duration 58
Chapter 9 Breaking Barriers 65
Chapter 10 No Limits 76
Chapter 11 The Area Rule 86
Chapter 12 An Exceptional Mind 93
Chapter 13 Turbulence 102
Chapter 14 Progress 110
Chapter 15 Young, Gifted, and Black 122
Chapter 16 What a Difference a Day Makes 132
Chapter 17 Writing the Textbook on Space 140
Chapter 18 With All Deliberate Speed 145
Chapter 19 Model Behavior 153
Chapter 20 Degrees of Freedom 160
Chapter 21 Out of the Past, the Future 173
Chapter 22 America Is for Everybody 185
Chapter 23 One Small Step 194
Timeline 199
Glossary 204
Source Notes 207
Further Reading 217
Index 219