There is a common myth that programming is exclusively for men. However, this is absolutely not the case. There are many great female programmers who have made a huge contribution to the development of computer technology.
Margaret Hamilton is one of them. In this article, we're going to tell her story. And if your daughter is also a computer enthusiast, we look forward to seeing her in class at Progkids!
Who is this Margaret?
Margaret Hamilton, an American programmer and scientist, is known for developing software for the Apollo space program. Her work was key to the successful landing of a man on the moon!
How it all started
Margaret was born on August 17, 1936 in Indiana.
She attended Earlham College, where she received a bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1958 with an additional major in philosophy. After graduating from college, she worked as a math and French teacher, but her interest in computers and programming soon led her to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Chaos and meteorology
In 1959, Margaret worked for Edward Lorentz in the MIT Meteorology Department, helping him research chaos theory. She learns a lot in practice, because software development does not yet have established canons.
Latin instruction and airplanes
From 1961 to 1963, Margaret worked on the SAGE project, where she was refining ready-made software for tracking enemy aircraft. The code for the program, which was entrusted to the girl, was very complicated, and the developer's comments were in Latin and Greek. Despite this, Margaret was the first person to make the program work. This project made her the main candidate for the position of lead software developer for the Apollo project.
To space!
Margaret Hamilton joined Charles Draper's lab at MIT, where she led the Apollo project development team. Her team was creating software for the spacecraft's navigation computer.
How Margaret saved the Apollo 11 mission
Hamilton has developed many innovative methods to ensure the reliability and stability of the Apollo project software. One of the most famous cases occurred during the Apollo 11 mission, when it was the girl's software that prevented the disaster. A few minutes before landing on the moon, the computer started issuing overload warnings. Thanks to Margaret's built-in error handling mechanisms, the computer was able to prioritize critical tasks and successfully complete the landing.
Heritage
The world owes Margaret the emergence of a new independent discipline — software development. According to the girl, when she first coined the term, it was constantly being joked about for a long time. However, the discipline of “software development” was gradually recognized by the world and gained due respect.
Margaret Awards
Margaret Hamilton has received numerous awards and recognitions for her achievements.
In 1986, she won the Ada Lovelace Award from the Women's Computer Science Association.
In 2003, she was awarded the NASA Space Achievement Medal. In addition, Margaret was paid $37,200, which was the largest in history.
In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded Margaret the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the highest civilian awards in the United States.
Fast Facts About Margaret Hamilton
#1 One of the girl's inspirers was her father, a philosopher and poet.
#2 When the first man set foot on the moon, Margaret was just 31 years old.
#3 Margaret is a self-taught programmer.
#4 Hamilton often hired her four-year-old daughter, who once helped her find a bug in one of the programs.
#5 Margaret often had to write code by hand on paper.
Margaret Hamilton is an outstanding programmer and innovator whose work has had a huge impact on the development of space and computer technologies. Her contribution to the Apollo program not only helped accomplish one of humanity's greatest missions, but also laid the foundation for modern software development methods. Margaret's story inspires young programmers to follow their interests and dreams!
Does your daughter want to learn to code too? Then write it down to free trial lesson at Progkids! We know more and more about computer technology!
