10 women who have made history in the world of technology

10 women who have made history in the world of technology

They have not had anything easy. And even today, women still play a minority role in tech companies . Especially with regard to management and responsibility positions. Although in that, the gap - and not only salary - is evident in almost all professions. Except for those in which women have always been the majority, such as in the field of nursing or education.

But history has not been able to recognize his work in many cases. Nor is it that of all those who for years - even centuries - have dedicated themselves to working, advancing and innovating in the field of technology. From Ada Lovelace, in the middle of the 19th century, to Lynn Conway, still present today, we have wanted to review the stories of great women in technology. Without them nothing would have been the same. 

ada lovelace

1. Ada Lovelace (1815-1852)

Her name will ring a bell for you, because we have talked about her on other occasions. And because, as little as you've read about pioneering women in the world of science, Ada Lovelace will have appeared. Daughter of the poet Lord Byron, Augusta Ada King was born in London in 1815 and passed away in 1852. She is known by the name of Ada Lovelace and for her important discoveries and advances in the field of mathematics .

One of his greatest achievements was, without a doubt, his work on Babbage's general-purpose mechanical calculating machine or analytical engine. One of the annotations that Ada made in this regard is the first algorithm that can be processed by a machine . Hence, it is considered the first computer programmer.

Charles Babbage was unable to go beyond numerical calculations. But Ada took a big step that centuries later would be recognized . On a more personal level, it should be noted that she barely related to her father. And that her mother, Anne Isabella Noel Byron, was also an important mathematician and political activist. She had someone to notice.

hedy lamarr

2. Hedy Lamarr (1914 - 2000)

It may sound more like a movie artist to you. Hedy Lamarr, born in Vienna in 1914 and died in Florida in 2000, was the star of a film as famous as Samson and Delilah (Cecil B. Demille) and, by the way, resigned from major productions such as Casablanca or Luz de Gas, that would later be the whole of another great artist, Ingrid Bergman.

But Hedy wasn't just an actress. One of her most important contributions was in the field of communications. As a Jew and as the ex-wife of the fascist Mandl, she helped provide confidential information about the horrors of the Nazis to the United States government.

She began to work on the development of new military technologies, confident that with her contributions she could help the victory of the allies . Together with the composer George Antheil, they devised a secret communication system that they managed to patent. It was a technique for modulating signals in spread spectrum, using two drums drilled and synchronized, which could switch between 88 frequencies.

The patent was registered under her married name at the time, Markey, so her work in this field was never recognized. Today we know, however, that his contribution was fundamental so that today we can use such a daily and useful technology as WiFi.

edith clarke

3. Edith Clarke (1883 - 1959)

Take a good look at it. She is Edith Clarke, a woman born in the Howard of the 19th century and died in Maryland, without whose contribution technology would not be where it is today either. What did she do? Edith was neither more nor less than the first electrical engineer in the United States and the first professor in electrical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin.

Among his most important contributions is the specialization in electrical power systems analysis and the Circuit Analysis of AC Power Systems manual. Although she was orphaned at age twelve, her older sister cared for her and she used the inheritance to study . This is how she graduated in mathematics and astronomy.

While still studying, she worked as a human calculator at the AT&T communications company. In the evenings he devoted himself to getting a degree in electrical engineering at Columbia University . She invented the Clarke calculator, a device that could solve equations with electrical current, voltage, and impedance in transmission lines.

She was a pioneer in presenting scientific articles and books based on her lectures given to engineers. The following years were spent teaching classes, because in fact, in view of how her career was, this was also one of her passions.

Jude Milhon

4. Jude Milhon (1939 - 2003)

Today we talk about hackers very naturally. But Jude Milhon was a pioneer in her day . Born in Washington DC in 1939 and died in 2003, she began working as a programmer in different companies. During her adolescence and youth she spent a lot of time participating in civil movements for human rights.

Along with other women, Jude joined the phenomenon of cyber culture and the 1973 Memory Community project. She first coined the term cyberpunk and fought alongside others for digital privacy. She was also the author of the book  Hacking the Wetware: The Nerd Girls Pillow-book , a book for all women who wanted to start hacking.

In the last decade of her life she worked as a web designer and combined it with Internet consulting work. She passed away from breast cancer.

grace murray

5. Grace Murray Hopper (1906 - 1992)

She is Grace Murray Hopper, another technological woman born in New York and died in Arlington County in the early 1990s. Her career as a computer scientist was combined with that of the military, reaching the rank of Rear Admiral.

She worked in computer science and as a programmer , being the first woman to use the Mark I, the first electromechanical computer built by IBM, which worked at Harvard since 1947. Grace was in charge of developing the first compiler for a programming language .

From his thesis a programming language was born that will sound familiar to you, COBOL , because it is still used by programmers today. Her friends called her Amazing Grace (Amazing Grace) and it was probably because in addition to having an extensive career as a computer scientist behind her, she tried to join the US Navy during World War II. Because of her age, she had to stay in the army reserves.

Top Secret Rosies

6. Top Secret Rosies (40s)

No one could recognize them. The Top Secret Rosies were six women who worked as programmers , although when they appeared photographed in images they made them pass as models. Nothing could be further from the truth. They had a name: Adela Katz, Betty Snyder, Jean Jennings, Kathleen McNulty, Marlyn Wescoff, Ruth Lichterman, and Frances Bilas.

They were the programmers of the first ENIAC computer . While it is true that John Presper and John William were in charge of building it, these six women were all experts in mathematics and logic and were in charge of handling it. With this computer calculations could be made on many basic operations and it played a fundamental role in the development of programming.

Rozsa peter

7. Rózsa Péter (1905 - 1977)

Born in Budapest (Hungary), Rózsa Politzer was a free woman throughout her life . In the 1930s she changed her surname to Péter. She first studied chemistry at the express wish of her father, but she soon realized that her true passion was mathematics. And she fought for what she wanted.

He collaborated closely with great mathematical geniuses (Féjer, Kürschák) and presented important work on recursive functions. It was she herself who proposed that her work open up a new field of study in mathematics . He always worked, despite the war that he had to live, and even wrote a book for the general public, obviously focused on his area of ​​interest:  Playing with Infinity: mathematical explorations and excursions. 

Later, he became interested in recursive functions within the field of computing. Even after he retired, he continued to work and research. She was also very lucky, because in life she received recognition for her invaluable scientific and pedagogical work .

French

8. Frances Elizabeth Allen (1932)

Of all the women we've met so far, only Frances E. Allen is still alive. Frances is an American-born computer scientist who worked for a long time on compiler optimization. His participation was fundamental in the study of compilers, code optimization and parallel computing .

But Frances was also dedicated to developing programming languages ​​and security codes. He did it, nothing more and nothing less, than for the American National Security Agency . Getting her university studies left her practically in the lurch financially. That is why she wanted to join IBM in 1957, with the aim of being able to pay her debts and then leave. However, it was there for 45 years.

Luckily, Frances has also received the recognition she deserved in life. So much so that, among many other accolades, she won the Augusta Ada Lovelace Award (2002) and was the first woman to lift the Turing Award (2016).

berezin

9. Evelyn Berezin (1925)

Evelyn Berezin is currently 93 years old. Born in the United States, this computing is recognized as the mother of word processors. In fact, it was she who in 1968 designed a program designed to write and save texts. Its beginnings show that almost everything started by chance.

At first she wanted to graduate in Business Studies from New York University, but a job offer made her turn to Physics. Graduated in 1945 in this field , she received a scholarship from the United States Atomic Energy Commission.

Her first job was at Elecom as a computer designer and she soon ended up becoming the head of her department. It was she who created the first office equipment . When she went to work for another company, she developed the first computerized system for making flight reservations. It was for United Airlines.

The word processor, as we indicated at the beginning, was also his thing. Later he founded his own word processing company.

lynn

10. Lynn Conway (1938)

Let's say that Lynn Conway is the youngest of all the women we've talked about here. Today she is 80 years old. Born in New York, Lynn is a computer scientist and inventor, who has also fought - a lot - for the rights of transgender people.

He invented the 'generalized dynamic instruction handling', which is directly related to the Out of order execution paradigm of computers. In 1968 he managed to put himself in the hands of Harry Benjamin to receive his treatment for transsexuals , with which he could carry out digital reaffirmation surgery. It was then that he was able to start with a project more important than any other: the sex change. Back then, in 1968, IBM fired her as soon as she revealed that she was going to change her sex.