History of the Digital Age ? Wiki Article #2: Famous Women of ...

During this course we have learned about a number of men who have paved the way for computers and technology that have led to how we live our live and interact with the world around us today. However, we have only learned about one woman- Ada Lovelace. What about the other female computing pioneers? What about the major players and developers in the world of computer science who happen to be women? Throughout the blog we?ve done this semester it?s also pretty clear that nobody really would?ve though of a woman such as Lovelace being a pioneer of computing. It has become an interest to see what other women have played a part in developing the world of computers that we know.

In 1946 the ENIAC was debuted as the very first ?general use? computer. We learned in lecture that the ?giant brain? as it was called was designed by the United States Army and was designed and made at the University of Pennsylvania?s Moore School of Electrical Engineering. What we didn?t learn about and what most people don?t know is that the six main programmers of the ENIAC were actually women. Betty Jennings, Betty Snyder, Kay McNulty, Marlyn Wescoff, Fran Balis, and Ruth Lichterman were responsible for making the one of a kind ENIAC what it is; Betty Jennings in particular was responsible for developing the stored program for the ENIAC in 1948 with Adele Goldstine. The six main programmers would go on to be inducted into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame in 1997.

In 1957 FORTRON was developed by John Backus and IBM to do a range of scientific and mathematic calculations. In 1962 Jean E. Sammet wrote and programmed the FORMAC, which was an extension of the FORTRAN. The FORMAC allowed for users to ?do direct computation and functions of advanced mathematics that can only be done indirectly and approximately in FORTRAN?. (Wikipedia) Jean Sammet was the first women and scientist for that matter to supervise a group of scientific programmers in 1955 with Sperry Gyroscope. Sammet went on to work for IBM in 1961 and develop FORMAC a year later. FORMAC is also mentioned as the first widely used computer language for mathematic symbol manipulation of mathematical formulas. This had an impact on how we use calculators today. In 2009 she received the Computer Pioneer Award for her efforts throughout her career.

Mary Allen Wilkes is said to be not only the first woman, but also the first person to have a private home computer, a computer that she built herself. She was able to do this through her work on LINC (Laboratory Instrument Computer), the first mini-computer developed at MIT?s Lincoln Laboratory. It was there that Wilkes developed a number of operating systems for the LINC and was able to then develop her own system for her private computer. The most notable operating system she developed was the LAP system for LINC.

When we turn on our computers everyday and look at various parts and designs of our computer?s interface we don?t really think about who designed them. Many of the famous computers of the 1980?s had an interface and graphics designed by Susan Kare. Kare is soley responsible for developing the icons and fonts that we see on apple computers everyday. Kare left Apple to works for Microsoft and designed many of the icons that appear on your computer every single day when you were young and working on a Windows 3.0 operating system. Kare also has worked to develop a number of icons for Facebook.

The most remarkable woman of computer science, to me personally is Grace Hopper. Hopper is noted for doing a number of things that are important to the world of computing and how they function today. She was a pioneer programmer of the Harvard Mark I computer, and was the first woman to develop a computer programming system?s compiler. Interestingly enough it was Grace Hopper who was responsible for coining the terms ?bug? and ?debugging? which we used everyday to talk about fixing problems with our computers. However, she used the term ?debugging? because she was actually taking a live moth out of a computer. Hopper is also famous for working on the UNIVAC, the first commercial computer to be introduced in the United States. It was Hopper?s thought and idea that computer programs should be written in a language that is closer to and resembles English rather than the current machine codes of other computers. This idea would go on to the development of COBOL. COBOL would become the newest, most popular business programming language of the time and is still in common use today. If it wasn?t for Grace Hopper anybody could go out, design a computer and have it put on the shelves. Hopper is responsible for developing the standards at which computers, their programs, and the various attachments are tested against to ensure that they are working to the full potential. In the 1980?s the National Bureau of Standards would take over this role, which was first assumed by the Navy. Today this is carried out by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Throughout her career Grace Hopper has accumulated over 15 awards, dedications and building in her name including a Navy destroyed named the USS Hopper in 1996. There are only a total of 15 vessels used by the Military that are named after women.

These are just a few of the women who have made a difference and pioneered in the world of computer science. It is women like this that I would have never known about if it wasn?t for learning about Ada Lovelace in this class. Women are extremely underrepresented in the world of computer science and computing in popular culture. If we as a people were more educated and aware of these women just to name a few and the other women who have played a huge part in the way we use computer, play video games, and interact with other via various forms of technology then maybe more women would be encouraged to follow in these women?s footsteps and be the next developer of an operating system?s updates, or design the video games that so many women are often discouraged to play. These women are proof that there is in fact room for both men and women in the world of computer science and technology.

WORK CITED:

http://www.cssu-bg.org/WomeninCS/susan_kare.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._military_vessels_named_after_women

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Sammet

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Source: http://history.msu.edu/hst250/2011/06/30/wiki-article-2-famous-women-of-computing-history/

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