DOCSLIB.ORG

Bartik & Holberton Interviewees

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Bartik & Holberton Interviewees Computer Oral History Collection, 1969-1973, 1977 Interviewees: Jean J. Bartik (1924-) and Frances E. (Betty) Snyder Holberton (1917-2001) Interviewer: Henry S. Tropp Date: April 27, 1973 Repository: Archives Center, National Museum of American History TROPP: This is a discussion with Betty Holberton and Betty Jean Bartik and the date is the 27th of April 1973. We are going to start off by talking about how both of these people got involved in ENIAC in terms of their arrival at the Moore School and the War work that they were connected with. And really, we're two of the first programmers on [an] electronic computer before the word was even coined. There wasn't even a word like program was there? HOLBERTON: Programmer ? BARTIK: I don't remember how the name got started. HOLBERTON: No. Our classification was called computer. TROPP: Computer. BARTIK: I was a mathematician. HOLBERTON: When we got to be P3s, or P2s. Our first job description is, is called computer, I looked it up just recently. [Laughter] TROPP: For additional information, contact the Archives Center at 202.633.3270 or [email protected] Computer Oral History Collection, 1969-1973, 1977 2 Jean J. Bartik and Frances E. (Betty) Snyder Holberton Interview, April 27, 1973, Archives Center, National Museum of American History Yea, well a computer, computer in that — HOLBERTON: Was a person who computes. TROPP: Was a person who did mathematical computation. A computer was not a machine in that time era, computer was a human being. HOLBERTON: It was a job classification then. They had a hole. I remember that very vividly when we took that job. The first thing that Goldstine says, "Your grades won't be, won't be decreased because you are going to be working on a machine." The idea of a machine, you know, was a low-grade something or other. Because I remember asking that question. TROPP: Mhm. When you, when you first came to the Moore School though, it was for what purpose? HOLBERTON: When I first came to the Moore School, I had been working at Farm Journal Magazine and all of my family had joined the Service. I had two sisters in the Waves and I wanted to join the Waves but I wasn't accepted because of my eyes. I saw an ad in the, in the Philadelphia papers, they needed girls to do mathematics and they would train you. So I applied and then I got about three or four other of my friends from college and they applied and that's how I got in. TROPP: And you were a mathematician originally? BARTIK: I was a math major, which — TROPP: At, at where? For additional information, contact the Archives Center at 202.633.3270 or [email protected] Computer Oral History Collection, 1969-1973, 1977 3 Jean J. Bartik and Frances E. (Betty) Snyder Holberton Interview, April 27, 1973, Archives Center, National Museum of American History BARTIK: I was just a graduate from college. TROPP: From, from which — BARTIK: Mhm. BARTIK: And I didn't want to teach school and I wanted to get out of Missouri. So one of my teachers came along and told me that the Government was looking for mathematicians and that she thought I might be interested in it. And she said, "It's located at the University of Pennsylvania" and she said, "Boy, that's a good place to go because they have one differential analyzer there, and there are not very many of them, and that's an exciting place to go, and I think you should apply." So I applied and I got a telegram back saying "yes" because at that time, it was just before the end of World War II, and there weren't that many mathematicians around that weren't doing something. So I was twenty years old and I just jumped on the Wabash and came to Philadelphia. TROPP: The Wabash railroad is no longer in existence. [Laughter] BARTIK: The Wabash, oh yes it is. TROPP: Is it still in existence? BARTIK: Sure. The Wabash rail — railroad built the town that I grew up in. TROPP: For additional information, contact the Archives Center at 202.633.3270 or [email protected] Computer Oral History Collection, 1969-1973, 1977 4 Jean J. Bartik and Frances E. (Betty) Snyder Holberton Interview, April 27, 1973, Archives Center, National Museum of American History Which is? BARTIK: Stanberry, Missouri. TROPP: Stingray? BARTIK: Stanberry. TROPP: Oh, Stanberry. BARTIK: Yea, they laid out the town. TROPP: Well you, you had been there earlier then, Betty? HOLBERTON: Oh yes. I joined when they first opened to the first group that came on board and — TROPP: Was that in '42? HOLBERTON: 1942, yes. The summer of '42, right. TROPP: And you were doing ballistics calculation? HOLBERTON: For additional information, contact the Archives Center at 202.633.3270 or [email protected] Computer Oral History Collection, 1969-1973, 1977 5 Jean J. Bartik and Frances E. (Betty) Snyder Holberton Interview, April 27, 1973, Archives Center, National Museum of American History I took, actually we, they gave us this quick math, brush up for three months in mathematics where I had, you know, mathematics eight hours a day, six days a week. That's how I learned calculus, you know, all the way through, in, in, you know, like it was a month, I guess, of calculus. Like that. TROPP: Some differential equations? HOLBERTON: That's right. The rest of it was a review for me, but I had never had calculus so that was new. TROPP: Mhm. HOLBERTON: And so I got started with the first group. TROPP: Well, the first group included, I guess, about five or six of you? Do you remember who some of the people were? HOLBERTON: Oh, there were more than five or six. There were more like twenty. TROPP: Like twenty? HOLBERTON: More like twenty. I think that there were some who were working that you were referring to, the five or six who didn't have to take the course who already had graduate degrees in mathematics, which I was not. TROPP: Mhm. For additional information, contact the Archives Center at 202.633.3270 or [email protected] Computer Oral History Collection, 1969-1973, 1977 6 Jean J. Bartik and Frances E. (Betty) Snyder Holberton Interview, April 27, 1973, Archives Center, National Museum of American History HOLBERTON: I was a journalist. But there were at least twenty in our class and I think the other five or six became the supervisors of us who came in as, as beginners. Well, the first thing that you worked on then, were, were those the ballistics calculations that John Mauchly has told me about where each of the HOLBERTON: Oh yes, oh yes. TROPP: Individuals had sheets of calculations? HOLBERTON: We not only had sheets, but we also worked, we worked two shifts, from 8 to 4 and from 4 to 1. And the girl who started and sat at the desk with another one on the opposite shift worked on the same trajectory when things really got tough. In other words, you'd stop on one line and the girl would pick up and proceed on the same, on the same trajectory computation. This was done very often when we really had a crash job to do. This kept going for sixteen hours a day. TROPP: Mhm. And these were strictly what? Pencil and paper or Marchant type — HOLBERTON: Oh, we had Marchants too, we could, you know, do that stuff in our sleep. TROPP: Well, when you got there this would have been — BARTIK: This was March 1945. TROPP: For additional information, contact the Archives Center at 202.633.3270 or [email protected] Computer Oral History Collection, 1969-1973, 1977 7 Jean J. Bartik and Frances E. (Betty) Snyder Holberton Interview, April 27, 1973, Archives Center, National Museum of American History In 1945 that whole environment then had pretty much changed, because by '45 ENIAC was almost ready to go, wasn't it? HOLBERTON: Well, we didn't know about it. It was a very close kept secret. We didn't know a thing about it. Until they called for volunteers to do something, they didn't quite tell us what. BARTIK: That's right. In fact I came there and this group was really buzzing right along. There must have been 50 to 75 people there and I came as a very young, inexperienced worker and I saw that sitting there running a calculator wasn't going to get me anywhere and besides it was kind of dull, so when the .. request was made for people to volunteer to work on the ENIAC I didn't know what it was, didn't have any idea, but I had enough confidence in my own ability that if I could get on the ground floor in some area that I could do very well, so — [Laughter] HOLBERTON: I think the one reason there weren't too many volunteers at that time, because we had to say at that time, as I recall, that we would move to Aberdeen, BARTIK: Yes. HOLBERTON: And there weren't too many people who were willing to do that. [Laughter] BARTIK: That's right. HOLBERTON: I think that was one of the reasons we got so lucky, I mean there weren't that many people who wanted to do that kind of thing, go to Aberdeen. TROPP: Well, when you first came to the Moore School, the calculations that you were doing were under the, at least overall supervision of Mauchly weren't they? For additional information, contact the Archives Center at 202.633.3270 or [email protected] Computer Oral History Collection, 1969-1973, 1977 8 Jean J.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Women in Computing History
    Women in Computing History Denise Gfirer ACM-W0) Co-Chair EMD Consulting Scotts Valley, California 95066 USA <[email protected]> Introduction Exciting inventions, innovative technology, human interac- tion, and intriguing politics fill computing history. However, the recorded history is mainly composed of male achieve- ments and involvements, even though women have played substantial roles. This situation is not unusual. Most science fields are notorious for excluding, undervaluing, or over- looking the accomplishments of their female scientists [1, 16, 17, 22]. As J.A.N. Lee points out, it is up to the histori- ans and others to remedy this imbalance (see this issue [14]). Some steps have been taken towards this goal through pub- lishing biographies on women in technology [2, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24], also see this issue [7], and through honoring the pioneers with various awards such as the GHC'97 Pioneering Awards(z) (Figure 1), the WITI Hall of Fame(3), and the AWC Lovelace Award(n). A few online sites Figure 1: Computer Science Pioneer Celebration, at the Grace Hopper contain biographies of women in technology, shown in Table Celebration of Women in Computing '97. Left to right: (Fran Allen, Ruzena Bajcsy, Adele Mildred Koss, Denise Gtirer, Anita Borg, Jean 1 below. However, even with these resources, many women Jennings Bartik, Judy Levenson Clapp, Thelma Estrin, Joyce Currie Little who have contributed significantly to computer science are (Courtesy Institute for Women in Technology, Palo Alto, California) still to be discovered. preprogrammed software for needed tasks (in particular word processing, email, and database access).
    [Show full text]
  • Oral History of Captain Grace Hopper
    Oral History of Captain Grace Hopper Interviewed by: Angeline Pantages Recorded: December, 1980 Naval Data Automation Command, Maryland CHM Reference number: X5142.2009 © 1980 Computer History Museum Table of Contents BACKGROUND HISTORY ...........................................................................................................3 1943-1949: MARK I, II, AND III COMPUTERS AT HARVARD....................................................6 1949-1964: ECKERT AND MAUCHLY, UNIVAC, AND THE ONE-PASS COMPILER ................7 The Need for User-Friendly Languages ..................................................................................10 DEMANDS FOR THE FUTURE..................................................................................................12 Application Processors, Database Machines, Distributed Processing ....................................12 Demand for Programmers and System Analysts ....................................................................14 The Value and Cost of Information..........................................................................................14 The Navy’s Dilemma: Micros and Software Creation..............................................................15 The Murray Siblings: Brilliant Communicators.........................................................................18 Common Sense and Distributed Computing ...........................................................................19 BACK TO 1943-1949: HOWARD AIKEN....................................................................................21
    [Show full text]
  • Women in Computing
    History of Computing CSE P590A (UW) PP190/290-3 (UCB) CSE 290 291 (D00) Women in Computing Katherine Deibel University of Washington [email protected] 1 An Amazing Photo Philadelphia Inquirer, "Your Neighbors" article, 8/13/1957 2 Diversity Crisis in Computer Science Percentage of CS/IS Bachelor Degrees Awarded to Women National Center for Education Statistics, 2001 3 Goals of this talk ! Highlight the many accomplishments made by women in the computing field ! Learn their stories, both good and bad 4 Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace ! Translated and extended Menabrea’s article on Babbage’s Analytical Engine ! Predicted computers could be used for music and graphics ! Wrote the first algorithm— how to compute Bernoulli numbers ! Developed notions of looping and subroutines 5 Garbage In, Garbage Out The Analytical Engine has no pretensions whatever to originate anything. It can do whatever we know how to order it to perform. It can follow analysis; but it has no power of anticipating any analytical relations or truths. — Ada Lovelace, Note G 6 On her genius and insight If you are as fastidious about the acts of your friendship as you are about those of your pen, I much fear I shall equally lose your friendship and your Notes. I am very reluctant to return your admirable & philosophic 'Note A.' Pray do not alter it… All this was impossible for you to know by intuition and the more I read your notes the more surprised I am at them and regret not having earlier explored so rich a vein of the noblest metal.
    [Show full text]
  • Computer Pioneer / Kim Todd
    Copyright © 2015 Truman State University Press, Kirksville, Missouri, 63501 All rights reserved tsup.truman.edu Cover art: Betty Jean Jennings, ca. 1941; detail of ENIAC, 1946. Cover design: Teresa Wheeler Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Todd, Kim D., author. Jean Jennings Bartik : computer pioneer / Kim Todd. pages cm—(Notable Missourians) Summary: “As a young girl in the 1930s, Jean Bartik dreamed of adventures in the world beyond her family’s farm in northwestern Missouri. After college, she had her chance when she was hired by the U.S. Army to work on a secret project. At a time when many people thought women could not work in technical fields like science and mathematics, Jean became one of the world’s first computer programmers. She helped program the ENIAC, the first successful stored-program computer, and had a long career in the field of computer science. Thanks to computer pioneers like Jean, today we have computers that can do almost anything.”—Provided by publisher. Audience: Ages 10-12. Audience: Grades 4 to 6. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-61248-145-6 (library binding : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-1-61248-146-3 (e-book) 1. Bartik, Jean--Juvenile literature. 2. Women computer scientists—United States—Biography—Juvenile literature. 3. Computer scientists— United States—Biography—Juvenile literature. 4. Women computer programmers— United States—Biography—Juvenile literature. 5. Computer programmers—United States—Biography—Juvenile literature. 6. ENIAC (Computer)—History—Juvenile literature. 7. Computer industry—United States—History—Juvenile literature. I. Title. QA76.2.B27T63 2015 004.092--dc23 2015011360 No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any format by any means without written permission from the publisher.
    [Show full text]
  • Working on ENIAC: the Lost Labors of the Information Age
    Working on ENIAC: The Lost Labors of the Information Age Thomas Haigh www.tomandmaria.com/tom University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee & Mark Priestley www.MarkPriestley.net This Research Is Sponsored By • Mrs L.D. Rope’s Second Charitable Trust • Mrs L.D. Rope’s Third Charitable Trust Thanks for contributions by my coauthors Mark Priestley & Crispin Rope. And to assistance from others including Ann Graf, Peter Sachs Collopy, and Stephanie Dick. www.EniacInAction.com CONVENTIONAL HISTORY OF COMPUTING www.EniacInAction.com The Battle for “Firsts” www.EniacInAction.com Example: Alan Turing • A lone genius, according to The Imitation Game – “I don’t have time to explain myself as I go along, and I’m afraid these men will only slow me down” • Hand building “Christopher” – In reality hundreds of “bombes” manufactured www.EniacInAction.com Isaacson’s “The Innovators” • Many admirable features – Stress on teamwork – Lively writing – References to scholarly history – Goes back beyond 1970s – Stresses role of liberal arts in tech innovation • But going to disagree with some basic assumptions – Like the subtitle! www.EniacInAction.com Amazon • Isaacson has 7 of the top 10 in “Computer Industry History” – 4 Jobs – 3 Innovators www.EniacInAction.com Groundbreaking for “Pennovation Center” Oct, 2014 “Six women Ph.D. students were tasked with programming the machine, but when the computer was unveiled to the public on Valentine’s Day of 1946, Isaacson said, the women programmers were not invited to the black tie event after the announcement.” www.EniacInAction.com Teams of Superheroes www.EniacInAction.com ENIAC as one of the “Great Machines” www.EniacInAction.com ENIAC Life Story • 1943: Proposed and approved.
    [Show full text]
  • Programming Women: Gender at the Birth of the Computing Age
    Feras 1 Programming Women: Gender at the Birth of the Computing Age Allie Feras ID#: 1914546 Honors in History Honors Capstone Advisor: Kimberly Sim 29 April 2010 In the spring of 1946, the public got its first glimpse of the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) at a press demonstration of a ballistics trajectory Feras 2 problem created by Frances Elizabeth Snyder Holberton and Betty Jean Bartik, who had labored all night in preparation. However, when stories of the first electronic computer, which was faster than any existing analog computer, made their way into the morning papers neither woman received any credit. Instead, reporters focused on the ENIAC’s male inventors, John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert, who had built the machine to keep up with the demand World War II had created for faster and faster computation of firing tables to be used on the front. The omission of these women was the beginning of a long history in which women’s contributions to computing were marginalized. Holberton, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania who had previously worked as a statistician for The Farm Journal , and Bartik, a graduate of Northwest Missouri State Teachers College in math and English, were among a group of women who were the first to program an electronic computer. 1 These women, all of whom had at least some mathematics experience, were drawn into the war effort to work compute firing tables by hand and were later assigned to the ENIAC where they shaped this newly created technological field. Although the ENIAC, housed at the Moore School of Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, had been classified, when the war ended the “electronic brain” captured the public’s imagination and the computer age began.
    [Show full text]
  • Oral History Interview with Frances E. Holberton
    An Interview with FRANCES E. HOLBERTON OH 50 Conducted by James Ross on 14 April 1983 Charles Babbage Institute Center for the History of Information Processing University of Minnesota, Minneapolis Copyright, Charles Babbage Institute 1 Frances E. Holberton Interview 14 April 1983 Abstract Holberton discusses her education from 1940 through the 1960s and her experiences in the computing field. These include work with the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, David Taylor Model Basin, and the National Bureau of Standards. She discusses her perceptions of cooperation and competition between members of these organizations and the difficulties she encountered as a woman. She recounts her work on ENIAC and LARC, her design of operating systems, and her applications programming. 2 FRANCES E. HOLBERTON INTERVIEW DATE: April 14, 1983 INTERVIEWER: James Ross LOCATION: Potomac, Maryland ROSS: This is a tape-recorded interview with Betty Holberton in her home conducted by the Charles Babbage Institute and I'm Jim Ross. Betty, how did you get into information processing, and how well did your previous education prepare you for what you found? HOLBERTON: Well, information processing was not even conceived of as a discipline actually at the time I got into it. Originally, my family were scientis ts and teachers--mathematics, physics, astronomy. I was fortunate enough to go to a very good prep school, George School, which is a coeducational Friends boarding school in Bucks County and got a good founding in essentially the thinking process. I received a scholarship in the University of Pennsylvania and looked for a job. However, when I was in college I was told to major in mathematics.
    [Show full text]
  • Doing Mathematics on the ENIAC. Von Neumann's and Lehmer's
    Doing Mathematics on the ENIAC. Von Neumann's and Lehmer's different visions.∗ Liesbeth De Mol Center for Logic and Philosophy of Science University of Ghent, Blandijnberg 2, 9000 Gent, Belgium [email protected] Abstract In this paper we will study the impact of the computer on math- ematics and its practice from a historical point of view. We will look at what kind of mathematical problems were implemented on early electronic computing machines and how these implementations were perceived. By doing so, we want to stress that the computer was in fact, from its very beginning, conceived as a mathematical instru- ment per se, thus situating the contemporary usage of the computer in mathematics in its proper historical background. We will focus on the work by two computer pioneers: Derrick H. Lehmer and John von Neumann. They were both involved with the ENIAC and had strong opinions about how these new machines might influence (theoretical and applied) mathematics. 1 Introduction The impact of the computer on society can hardly be underestimated: it affects almost every aspect of our lives. This influence is not restricted to ev- eryday activities like booking a hotel or corresponding with friends. Science has been changed dramatically by the computer { both in its form and in ∗The author is currently a postdoctoral research fellow of the Fund for Scientific Re- search { Flanders (FWO) and a fellow of the Kunsthochschule f¨urMedien, K¨oln. 1 its content. Also mathematics did not escape this influence of the computer. In fact, the first computer applications were mathematical in nature, i.e., the first electronic general-purpose computing machines were used to solve or study certain mathematical (applied as well as theoretical) problems.
    [Show full text]
  • To Give WITI Members Some Perspective, Jean and Timothy
    OLYMPIC PLAZA 11500 Olympic Blvd., Suite 400 Los Angeles, CA 90064 (818) 788-9484 To give WITI Members some perspective, Jean and Timothy Bartik revisited how the six "Women of the ENIAC," WITI Hall of Fame Inductees Kay Antonelli, Jean Bartik, Betty Holberton, Marlyn Meltzer, Frances Spence and Ruth Teitelbaum, fit the criteria for induction into the WITI Hall of Fame in 2005. All the Women of the ENIAC were already inducted to the WITI Hall of Fame in 1997. WITI audaciously asked the Bartiks, as a writing exercise, to fill in the nomination form once again. They graciously agreed to take the WITI challenge with pride. Below are the questions from the 2005 Nomination Form and the responses from Jean and Timothy. WITI Hall of Fame Criteria and Required Questions Hall of Fame recipients include women who have made outstanding contributions based on one or more of the following criteria: 1. Directly made an exceptional contribution to the advancement of science and/or technology. 2. Facilitated and created programs that motivate young women to choose careers in science and technology. 3. Enabled and encouraged other scientific and technical women to advance in their careers 4. Created scientific or technological innovations, which promote environmental harmony, support humanitarian endeavors or improve the human condition. Based on the above recipient criteria, please answer the following questions. Answering these questions is required. Please give thorough and complete answers to questions below. 1. Based on the criteria above, which of these criteria best describes the outstanding contributions of the nominee and why? The Women of the ENIAC, Kay Antonelli, Jean Bartik, Betty Holberton, Marlyn Meltzer, Frances Spence and Ruth Teitelbaum, directly made a contribution to the advancement of science and technology by developing the first programs or software for the first electronic computer, the ENIAC, in the mid 1940s.
    [Show full text]
  • The ENIAC: the Grandfather of All Computers
    The ENIAC: The Grandfather of all Computers Brian L. Stuart Drexel University The ENIAC 1 What Is ENIAC? • Large-scale computing system • Built during WWII • Dedicated February 15, 1946 • Converted to sequential instruction execution in 1948 • Retired 1955 • Used for: – Atomic bomb development – Ballistics trajectories – Number theory – Supersonic air flow – Weather prediction – and more 2 Common Statistics • 40 racks, each 8’ by 2’ • About 18,000 tubes • 100KHz basic clock • 200µS addition time • About 150KW of power 3 Key People 4 Key People Herman Goldstine Arthur Burks Harry Huskey 5 Key People • Kay Mauchly (Kathleen McNulty Mauchly Antonelli) • Fran Bilas (Frances Bilas Spence) • Jean Bartik (Betty Jean Jennings Bartik) • Betty Holberton (Frances Elizabeth Snyder Holberton) • Ruth Lichterman (Ruth Lichterman Teitelbaum) • Marlyn Wescoff (Marlyn Wescoff Meltzer) • Adele Goldstine (Adele Katz Goldstine) 6 Key People Kay Mauchly Fran Bilas Jean Bartik 7 Key People Betty Holberton Ruth Lichterman Marlyn Wescoff 8 Key People 9 Basic Architecture • Initiating unit • Cycling unit • Two-panel master programmer • 20 Accumulator units • Multiplying unit • Divider/Square rooter unit • 3 Function table units • Constant transmitter/card reader unit • Card punch unit 10 Moore School Layout 11 Unusual Characteristics • No bulk writeable memory • No separation between storage and computation • Divider/square rooter not always exact • Initially programmed with wires and switches • Feels like a dataflow architecture 12 Accumulator • 10 digits + sign (P
    [Show full text]
  • Making Programming Masculine 6
    Making Programming Masculine 6 NATHAN ENSMENGER I n the April 1967 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine, sandwiched between “ The Bachelor Girls of Japan ” and “ A Dog Speaks: Why a Girl Should Own a Pooch, ” there appeared a curious little essay entitled simply “ The Computer Girls.” As the article explained, these were the female “ computer programmers ” who taught the dazzling new “ miracle machines” called computers “ what to do and how to do it. ” There were already more than 20,000 women working as com- puter programmers in the United States, argued the article ’ s author, Lois Mandel, and there was an immediate demand for 20,000 more. Not only could a talented “ computer girl” command as much $20,000 a year, but the opportunities for women in computing were effectively “ unlimited. ” The rapid expansion of the computer industry meant that “ sex discrimination in hiring ” was unheard of, Mandel confi dently declared, and anyone with aptitude — male or female, college educated or not — could succeed in the fi eld. And not only were women in computing treated as equals, but they actually had many advantages over their male colleagues. Programming was “ just like planning a dinner, ” Mandel quoted the noted computer scientist Dr. Grace Hopper as saying, “ You have to plan ahead and schedule everything so it ’ s ready when you need it. Programming requires patience and the ability to handle detail. Women are ‘ naturals ’ at computer programming ” [1] . It would be easy to dismiss “ The Computer Girls ” as a fl uff piece, a half - hearted attempt by Cosmopolitan to capitalize on contemporary interest in the computer revolution.
    [Show full text]
  • The Women of ENIAC
    The Women of ENIAC W. BARKLEY FRITZ A group of young women college graduates involved with the EFJIAC are identified. As a result of their education, intelligence, as well as their being at the right place and at the right time, these young women were able to per- form important computer work. Many learned to use effectively “the machine that changed the world to assist in solving some of the important scientific problems of the time. Ten of them report on their background and experi- ences. It is now appropriate that these women be given recognition for what they did as ‘pioneers” of the Age of Computing. introduction any young women college graduates were involved in ties of some 50 years ago, you will note some minor inconsiskn- NI[ various ways with ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integra- cies, which arc to be expected. In order to preserve the candor and tor And Computer) during the 1942-195.5 period covering enthusiasm of these women for what they did and also to provide ENIAC’s pre-development, development, and 10-year period of today’s reader and those of future generations with their First-hand its operational usage. ENIAC, as is well-known, was the first accounts, I have attempted to resolve only the more serious incon- general purpose electronic digital computer to be designed, built, sistencies. Each of the individuals quoted, however, has been and successfully used. After its initial use for the Manhattan Proj- given an opportunity to see the remarks of their colleagues and to ect in the fall of 194.5 and its public demonstration in February modify their own as desired.
    [Show full text]