WATCH: The astronomer who discovered 300 stars Many of the male scientists of the era would never have guessed that the “busywork” they handed to female computers in the late 1800s would go on to become so important.” READ: Atlas Obscura, on how women mapped the universeĮxcerpt: “While men were also employed as computers for various mathematical tasks, clerical work (barred to women before the Civil War) had begun to be viewed as “women’s work”–even when it involved intricate calculations, cataloguing, and data analysis. Besides developing a star classification system, Fleming discovered the Horsehead Nebula in 1888. Fleming became one of the founding members of the “Harvard Computers,” a group of women hired by Pickering to make measurements of the stars. In 1871, Pickering hired Fleming at the observatory and began teaching her how to analyze stellar spectra. She started out as a maid for professor Edward Charles Pickering, director of the Harvard College Observatory, but Pickering’s wife, and eventually the professor himself, saw more potential in her. Wilhelmina Fleming - The system for classifying the stars “In order to keep that wealth and power in a man’s hands, there’s a backlash to try to redefine it as something a woman didn’t do, and shouldn’t do, and couldn’t do.”’Ģ. READ: The New Yorker, on Ada Lovelace as the first tech visionary.Įxcerpt: ‘“As people realized how important computer programming was, there was a greater backlash and an attempt to reclaim it as a male activity,” Aurora told me. Lovelace published the first algorithm meant to be carried out by the device in 1843, making her the first computer programmer. In 1833 she met scientist and inventor Charles Babbage, who introduced her to the first automated computer engine–his “Babbage Engine,” which she realized had more potential than being a mere calculation machine. Ada Lovelace - The first computer programmerĪugusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, was a 19th century English mathematician and daughter of poet Lord Byron. Please read on and share the videos, books, and articles we’ve added. Here are 11 of the most important women in tech. Besides taking steps to increase diversity in our own workplace, we want to mark this day by shining a bright spotlight on the achievements of women in tech – to raise awareness that their accomplishments are not fleeting or marginal – they are lasting and profound. ![]() The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is urging the world to #BreakTheBias. ![]() Over half the women in the sector feel their gender limits their careers, and a large majority say they lack role models among senior leadership, support for career development, and a clear path to promotion, according to the 2022 WeAreTechWomen report. And it’s no wonder that women still face uphill battles in the tech industry. It’s no wonder that in a recent PwC survey only 22% of university and pre-university students could name a “famous” woman in tech. These women all broke barriers in male-dominated fields, but in their lifetimes, most couldn’t overcome the highest barricade - the entrenched bias that still blocks them from getting the full credit and recognition they deserve for their groundbreaking achievements. They contributed to the theory of relativity, opened the world to space travel, created the first computer program and helped build the internet.
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