Post by account_disabled on Mar 5, 2024 7:25:40 GMT
Did you know that World Computing Day, celebrated on December 9, was chosen in honor of Grace Hooper , developer of the first compiler and precursor of the universal programming language COBOL? The truth is that women have been crucial in the history of computing. Without going any further, the last century left an indelible legacy in a discipline that, unlike what happens today, was dominated by the female gender. CTA Post Leading women in computing and their contributions 1. Grace Murray Hopper As we have mentioned, World Computing Day commemorates his birthday , December 9, 1906. Grace Murray Hopper, known as “Amazing Grace,” was a mathematician and military scientist in the United States Army. She is considered the precursor of COBOL (1959-1961) , a universal and unprecedented programming language at the time that could be used by any computer. Additionally, she developed the first compiler (1952) and FLOW-MATIC (1957) , the first programming language to use English-like commands.
Mary Kenneth Keller "Our vision was that every student on campus should have access to a computer, and any faculty member should be able to use a computer in the classroom whenever appropriate. It was as simple as that." Mary Kenneth Keller Although this phrase could be of rigorous relevance, the truth is that it was uttered by Mary Kenneth Keller (1913-1985). This computer scientist, born in Cleveland, Ohio, was the first doctor in Computer Science in the US and held the Europe Mobile Number List position of director of the Computer Science Department at Clark University. He has gone down in history for being part of the team that helped develop the BASIC (Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) programming language, along with John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz. In addition, she was a pioneer in defending the use of computers and software as a teaching tool , just as she predicted the importance that computers would have in libraries. 3. Joan Clarke Joan Clarke (London, United Kingdom) was part of the group of British scientists, led by Alan Turing, who deciphered the Enigma machine , the basis of all Nazi communications during World War II.
This is a collaboration that was not revealed until 1971 and that helped reduce the duration of the war between two and four years , saving thousands of lives, thanks to the decryption of more than 84,000 German messages per month. The story of this cryptanalyst is reflected in the film The Imitation Game , by Morten Tyldum. 4. Evelyn Berezin Born in the Bronx, New York (USA), Evelyn Berezin created what is now considered the first office computer in 1953 . However, this computer scientist will always be remembered for devising a word processor in 1968 to simplify office work . In fact, a year later, she founded the first company to develop word processors: Redactron Corporation. 5. Margaret Hamilton Margaret Hamilton, from Paoli, Indiana (USA), coined the term “Software Engineering” and developed the navigation software for the Apollo Space Program , whose code allowed humans to reach the Moon in 1969. Likewise, it was the person in charge of developing the software for the first AN/FSQ-7 computer, which searched for “unfriendly” aircraft in North American airspace. Additionally, Margaret founded the company responsible for developing the Universal Systems Language ( USL ) based on her "Development Before the Fact" (DBTF) paradigm for systems.