Something Strange From the Days Way Before C++

[jstfrths]

Although most computer programmers are men, the very first programmer
was a woman, Lady Augusta Ada Lovelace. Her mechanical computer, called
an " analytical machine" was created by Charles Babbage and used punch
cards for input. The year was 1852 - from
www.intellectual-playground.com

[Alf P. Steinbach]

* jstfrths:

Although most computer programmers are men, the very first programmer
was a woman, Lady Augusta Ada Lovelace. Her mechanical computer, called
an " analytical machine" was created by Charles Babbage and used punch
cards for input. The year was 1852 - from
www.intellectual-playground.com

This is not strange at all. The first high level language was created
by a woman, and the first bug introduced and found by a woman, the same
one, incidentally. And we'd probably not have the atom bomb (as early
as we did, anyway) except for the work of a woman. It's a reciprocal
relationship between men and women. We men enjoy (along with the women)
the first creative moments of procreation, but then leave it to the
women to do the hard work; in other more intellectual areas, women
enjoy (along with the men) doing the first and enabling creative work,
and then leave it to the men to flesh out the technology.

Ah, did I start an off-topic flame war now?

If not, I've probably lost my old skills, or else no women/girls are
reading my articles in [comp.lang.c++].

--
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is it such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in e-mail?

[=?ISO-8859-15?Q?Juli=E1n?= Albo]

Alf P. Steinbach wrote:

This is not strange at all. The first high level language was created
by a woman, and the first bug introduced and found by a woman, the same

And without using a debugger or an IDE... even without a computer.

--
Salu2

[Mensanator]

Julián Albo wrote:

Alf P. Steinbach wrote:

This is not strange at all. The first high level language was created
by a woman, and the first bug introduced and found by a woman, the same

And without using a debugger or an IDE

Ha! In my day, we had to use an oscilloscope and a 555 timer
connected to the reset pin. Or an EPROM filled with NOPs.

... even without a computer.

And we had to lick the road clean with our tounges.

--
Salu2

[Old Wolf]

Mensanator wrote:

And we had to lick the road clean with our tounges.

With your whats?

[osmium]

"Tim Slattery" wrote:

<scroll to end>

"Alf P. Steinbach" <al***@start.nowrote:

>>* jstfrths:

>>Although most computer programmers are men, the very first programmer
was a woman, Lady Augusta Ada Lovelace. Her mechanical computer, called
an " analytical machine" was created by Charles Babbage and used punch
cards for input. The year was 1852 - from
www.intellectual-playground.com

This is not strange at all. The first high level language was created
by a woman,

Hold it right there! I think you're talking about Grace Murray Hopper,
the naval officer who was a member of the original CODASYL committee,
which drew up the first set of specifications for COBOL. She
participated, yes, but she did not create the entire thing.

>>and the first bug introduced and found by a woman, the same
one, incidentally.

Grace Murray Hopper again. She found an insect in the innards of a
malfunctioning circuit and taped it into a logbook. But the term "bug"
had been in use by electrical engineers quite a while before that
incident.

>>And we'd probably not have the atom bomb (as early
as we did, anyway) except for the work of a woman.

Now you've lost me. Who are you talking about?

I think he is talking about Lisa Meitner.

[Alf P. Steinbach]

* Tim Slattery:

"Alf P. Steinbach" <al***@start.nowrote:

>And we'd probably not have the atom bomb (as early
as we did, anyway) except for the work of a woman.

Now you've lost me. Who are you talking about?

Marie Curie, 1911 Nobel Prize in chemistry for discovering radium and
polonium (and the first person ever to receive /two/ Nobel prizes).

--
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is it such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in e-mail?

[Tim Slattery]

"Alf P. Steinbach" <al***@start.nowrote:

>* jstfrths:

>Although most computer programmers are men, the very first programmer
was a woman, Lady Augusta Ada Lovelace. Her mechanical computer, called
an " analytical machine" was created by Charles Babbage and used punch
cards for input. The year was 1852 - from
www.intellectual-playground.com

This is not strange at all. The first high level language was created
by a woman,

Hold it right there! I think you're talking about Grace Murray Hopper,
the naval officer who was a member of the original CODASYL committee,
which drew up the first set of specifications for COBOL. She
participated, yes, but she did not create the entire thing.

>and the first bug introduced and found by a woman, the same
one, incidentally.

Grace Murray Hopper again. She found an insect in the innards of a
malfunctioning circuit and taped it into a logbook. But the term "bug"
had been in use by electrical engineers quite a while before that
incident.

>And we'd probably not have the atom bomb (as early
as we did, anyway) except for the work of a woman.

Now you've lost me. Who are you talking about?

--
Tim Slattery
Sl********@bls.gov
http://members.cox.net/slatteryt

[Tim Slattery]

"Alf P. Steinbach" <al***@start.nowrote:

>* Tim Slattery:

>"Alf P. Steinbach" <al***@start.nowrote:

>>And we'd probably not have the atom bomb (as early
as we did, anyway) except for the work of a woman.

Now you've lost me. Who are you talking about?

Marie Curie, 1911 Nobel Prize in chemistry for discovering radium and
polonium (and the first person ever to receive /two/ Nobel prizes).

Osmium said Lise Meitner, who (IMHO) has a better claim. She figured
out that the tiny bit of matter that couldn't be accounted for when a
Uranium atom fissioned, when passed through Einstein's equation e =
mc**2, worked out to the exact amount of energy needed to cause the
fragments to fly apart the way they did. Matter to energy
transformation! Meitner never got a Nobel prize, but should have. She
was exiled from Nazi Germany because she was Jewish.
--
Tim Slattery
Sl********@bls.gov
http://members.cox.net/slatteryt