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Women in Technology Essay example

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Women in Technology

Women have played a major role in computing for centuries as well as men. The purpose of this paper is to gain knowledge on women involved in technology who for some reason do not gain as much recognition as do men. There are numerous women within this field worth talking about, but the ones chosen were Ada Byron, Grace Hopper, Evelyn Granville, and Krisztina Holly. The history of each individual will be discussed as well as what form of influence they had in computers.

Introduction

The revolution of computers had begun centuries ago. It has been the work of many over the course of years to bring computers where they are today. For quite some time it entailed people with bright imaginations to come up with …show more content…

Lady Lovelace had then suggested to Babbage to write a formal plan on how an engine could calculate Bernoulli numbers. It was this plan that the two of them worked on that is now considered the first computer program. Because of her foresight, the Unites States Department of Defense developed a software program and named it Ada in honor of her in 1979.

Unfortunately, her life was short lived and died at the age of 36. She is formally known as “The Enchantress of Numbers” and her precognition of computers by more than a century is what many of us believe is new computing. Her passion for Babbage’s ideas were intense and had people during that era lived longer, there is no telling what she and Babbage may have invented.

Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper

Grace Hopper was born on December 9, 1906 in New York City. She lived a normal upbringing and loved to do conventional childhood things with the exception of her fondness for devices. She truly enjoyed taking things apart to see how they worked and put them back together again. According to Danis, “When grace was seven, she had taken apart seven alarm clocks in her house” (1997). Grace’s parents taught her and her siblings to be unique and not do what is customary of women. Grace went on to Graduate with her BA in Mathematics and Physics and completed her MA and Ph.D. by the age of 28. Hopper married in 1930, separated in 1940, and divorced in 1945. Hopper decided to join the service and became a

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