Women in computing

Common card · No. 322642

Women have been involved in computing since the 18th century. Before the advent of machines that could perform computations, people who "performed mathematical calculations were known as computers." Women developed scientific computations, including Nicole-Reine Lepaute's prediction of the return of Halley's Comet, and Maria Mitchell's computation of the motion of Venus. As technology and practices evolved, the role of women in computation and programming changed, and the recorded history of the field has subsequently downplayed their achievements. The first algorithm intended to be executed by a mechanical computer was designed by pioneering Ada Lovelace, while Grace Hopper was the first person to design a compiler for a programming language. Throughout the 19th and early 20th century, and up to World War II, computing was predominantly done by women; significant examples include the Harvard Computers, women codebreakers at Bletchley Park and engineers at NASA. Starting in the 1960s but...

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