On the occasion of International Women’s Day, let us delve into the history of scientific innovation and see how these five great women of computer science and technology have contributed to the field!
Lady Ada Lovelace
Lady Ada Lovelace worked on Charles Babbage’s Analytic Machine. She was a genius in the fields of mathematics and the first person to recognise that machines can do much more than just calculate. This lead to the invention of the first algorithm that can be carried out by the machine.
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Grace Hopper
Grace Hopper, US Navy Rear Admiral, started her career in computer science when she worked on the Harvard Mark I computer. She wanted to build a machine-independent programming language that was based on the English language. Her compiler converted English terms into machine code which led to the COBOL language which is still used today.
Hedy Lamarr
Actress by profession, Hedy Lamarr was behind the development of a secret radio transmission system that prevented interception of classified messages during World War II. The principles used were later incorporated into Bluetooth technology and Wi-Fi technology that is heavily used even today.
Read more about Hedy Lamarr
Margaret Hamilton
Margaret Hamilton is known for her work at NASA. Hamilton coined the term “software engineering” as she wanted it to be recognised and respected as any other realm of engineering. She led a team tasked to develop the onboard flight software for the Apollo space program which was used for six landing missions between 1969 and 1972.
Janese Hamilton
Lastly, we have Janese Swanson on our list who developed the Carmen Sandiego educational games that changed the perception of the kinds of toys girls would want to play with. She founded her company Girl Tech that developed products and services that popularised technology and encouraged girls to use
This is just a small fraction
This is just a small fraction of the impact women have made in the fields of computer science all over these years and there is no doubt that women can do anything and everything once they put their minds to it.
We wish all the amazing women out there a very happy Women’s Day and hope this article motivates more young girls to take up computing with passion and shape the world with greater technological innovations.