Eniac Keynote (1/6) @ WITI New York Network Meeting

Eniac Programmers Keynote @ WITI (Women In Technology International) New York Network Meeting 1/6

The first programmers started out as "Computers." This was the name given by the Army to a group of over 80 women working at the University of Pennsylvania during World War II calculating ballistics trajectories - complex differential equations - by hand. When the Army agreed to fund an experimental project, the first all-electronic digital computer, six "Computers" were selected in 1945 to be its first programmers. They were Kathleen McNulty Mauchly Antonelli, Jean Jennings Bartik, Frances Snyder Holberton, Marlyn Wescoff Meltzer, Frances Bilas Spence and Ruth Lichterman Teitelbaum.

The ENIAC was the first all-electronic digital computer, a machine of approximately 18,000 vacuum tubes and forty black 8-foot panels. Because the ENIAC project was classified, the programmers were denied access to the machine they were supposed to tame into usefulness until they received their security clearances. As the first programmers, they had no programming manuals or courses, only the logical diagrams to help them figure out how to make the ENIAC work.

They had none of the programming tools of today. Instead, the programmers had to physically program the ballistics program by using the 3000 switches and dozens of cables and digit trays to physically route the data and program pulses through the machine. Therefore, the description for the first programming job might have read: "Requires physical effort, mental creativity, innovative spirit, and a high degree of patience."

To learn more, visit WITI.com: http://www.witi.com/center/witimuseum/halloffame/298369/ENIAC-Programmers-Kat...

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• meeting
• inspirational
• discussion
• business
• educational
• forum
• conference
• WITI
• First Programmers
• Eniac
• Programmers
• association
• community