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First Computer Programmers Inspire Documentary
From: "Dave Farber" <dave () farber net>
Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2007 12:39:00 -0500
-----Original Message----- From: Adam Peake [mailto:ajp () glocom ac jp] Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2007 12:34 PM To: dave () farber net Subject: First Computer Programmers Inspire Documentary For IP: First Computer Programmers Inspire Documentary Decline in Numbers of Women in Computer Science Threatens U.S. Competitiveness, Say Experts By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES Dec. 4, 2007 (ABCNews) During World War II the Army ran out of male mathematicians and turned to six women to program the world's first computer - ENIAC. Historian Kathy Kleiman (left) has recorded oral histories of these women - now in their 80s - in her upcoming documentary film, "Invisible Computers." ... At 83, Betty Jean Jennings Bartik -- a devoted bridge player and grandmother of five -- had a secret past that was invisible to many who knew her. Her grandson Alex knew her story. He stormed out of school one day when his teacher refused to believe his gray-haired granny was a computer pioneer who had calculated firing tables and ballistic trajectories during World War II. The boy's parents had to explain to the teacher that Bartik and five other women had, indeed, legally hacked one of the world's first computers, converting it into a stored machine and eventually helping to usher in the digital age. (more at <http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=3951187&page=1>) ------------------------------------------- Archives: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
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