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!

[Leus]

I think she's hot.

[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

[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.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Oh yeah, 65 years old.



My buddy's wife is like that. I've known her for over forty years and except for the long straight hair turning grey, she hasn't change a bit.

[infinite monkey]

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

[Pico and ME]

Originally Posted by 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.

Oh hell, 'errors' were my downfall in first year fortran! I would pray that there weren't any, because it usually meant going back through all my cards just to find a typo.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Ha ha ha, you're so right, is it O or is it 0?

[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!