Feb 3rd, 2015: Margaret Hamilton

[xoxoxoBruce]

As soon as I read the name Margaret Hamilton, it clicked in my head, Wicked Witch of the West. Just a piece of useless,(except for bar bets and trivial pursuit), information we all pick up like human lint rollers. But it turns out this Margaret Hamilton was much more powerful than some vengeful green witch who could fly around OZ. Yes, our Margaret Hamilton took Apollo to the moon.



Wearing the typical clothes, hair, and glasses, girls wore in office jobs during the 60s. Standing next to a printout of the software, most of which she wrote, that Apollo used to go and land on the moon.

Oh yes, and come back.

She had a degree in math, was obviously pretty smart, and had that type of organized mind it takes to write reliable software. But she also had another big item that put her into the forefront of "software engineering", (a term she invented), and that big item was opportunity.

In the dark ages of computers, everything was done with punch cards like at Joe Friday's R & I. Since making punch cards was first cousin to typing, the consensus of the predominately male engineers declared data entry was women's work. The engineers would solve the problems, and let the girls do the office work, typing, filing, and feeding computations into those new electric computing things. Most people couldn't even imagine how powerful and pervasive those electric computing things would rapidly become. As the job grew, Ms Hamilton grew along with it, eventually starting her own software company.

Margaret Hamilton, like Grace Hopper, was in the right place at the right time. But more than that, had the vision to see opportunity to stake out territory in new fields of technology and go for it.

[Griff]

That is one metric shit ton of code. It's true, back then you could weigh it.

[glatt]

Why have I never heard of this woman?

Thanks, Bruce!

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by glatt

Why have I never heard of this woman?

Thanks, Bruce!

Think you may have answered your own question there, glatt :P

[Leus]

I think she's hot.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I have to agree with you, Leus. Keeping in mind she was born in 1936, I'd say she aged very nicely, too. Maybe because her career path didn't demand it, she avoided a lot of "beauty treatments"... you know, the lotions, potions, and medieval torture devices that pile up in the bathroom.

[Lamplighter]

But even I looked better in 1995 than I do now.

[glatt]

She probably didn't spend a lot of time in the sun either.

[glatt]

Here's a more recent picture and transcript of a talk she gave about her programming career, and how she loved to hunt down errors. 2001.

[infinite monkey]

She's great. I might think she's Amy Farrah Fowler!

[BigV]

right. only more like is it

XXXXX0XX

or is it

XXXX0XXX

Repeat for a zillion lines on a zillion cards

[xoxoxoBruce]

After you find them all...

IT COMPILED! IT COMPILED!

[Gravdigr]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

IT COMPILED!

I had a car that did that once.

Right there on the side of the road.

[jonaD]

She is not known, because MOST people, from MOST programs... are not known, not because of some grand conspiracy to hide women in the kitchen. There are MANY people on lots of programs, that can lay claim to something like, "They made everything possible and it's all because of them that anything good happened at all!", but it's not true, just like her contribution wasn't such a big deal... BUT! women and blacks are hot groups now, so ANY hint at all that a woman or a black was involved in ANYTHING more than... nothing really all that special, is a BIG DEAL! I imagine the Feminists will now push for Margaret to get the Presidential Medal of Honor and have a statue placed at the door of all public schools in America... right!? Meanwhile the rest of us unknown white male engineer/scientists, can continue to live, in the dark. Got it.

[Sundae]

If you know about her, you know more than I did before reading this thread.
People are credited for all sorts of things they are not wholly responsible for - I've just been reading a book on the development of the Plimsoll Line (the loading line on ships) and the man that gave it the name was a tireless campaigner, but did not invent the concept or work on the calculations of how it could be used safely.

Personally, I like to acknowledge people who forged a path which was unusual at the time. Whether that was the Earl of Shaftesbury who thought perhaps six year olds shouldn't work in mines, or the white Australian athlete who gave tacit support when the Black Power salute was given during the Olympics medal ceremony, or a woman who worked in programming when many women of her class weren't working outside the home at all.

It doesn't negate the admiration I feel for anyone else. Including all the white, male programmers/ engineers on here.

Although I like the fact you think I'm hot right now.