A mathematician, innovator, scientist and the only woman who managed to pass for the oldest officer in the history of the US Navy - that was Grace Murray Hopper. A brief biography of it will be presented to your attention below. Few women managed to pave the way for the fleet, and even more so to receive so many titles and awards. Hopper did it all. She resigned on August 14, 1986 at the age of 79.
In addition to merit in the military field, Hopper became famous for inventions in the field of computer industry. She also co-authored the creation of UNIVAC-1, the first commercial automated computer in history, one of the creators of the COBOL programming language, an innovator in the development of the latest computer technologies, and also became an outstanding mathematician.
Meet Grace Hopper
Hopper was a very versatile person. As a student at Vassar College of Arts, where she later taught math, Grace Hopper became a bachelor. After some time, she already receives a master's degree at Yale University, and four years later - a Ph.D. And already in 1943 she was credited to the existing reserve of the Navy. A year later, she was awarded a lieutenant and invited for further cooperation at Harvard University, where she subsequently began work on the first Mark-1 electronic computer.
Compiler creator
Also in 1949, she took part in the development and creation of a computer machine called "UNIVAC-1" in the company of Eckert and Mokley. The first to express the idea of organizing programs from successive sequences of instructions called subprograms was Grace Hopper. The contribution to science is invaluable. In addition, she was engaged in the development of the first-ever compiler program. She was able to search for subroutines in the repository and use them to create a ready-made program in a binary code system that the computer would understand.
Grace Hopper continued to work for the company after joining Remington Rand in 1951 and Sperry Rand Corporation in 1955.
The following year, under her leadership, the department releases the first commercial compilation program, Flow-Matic.
A little later, she decides to quit the service, however, already next year the work again reminds herself. Gray is being called back to standardize the naval computer programming language .
She left for a well-deserved retirement in 1986, while remaining the current officer of the Navy. Grace dies on January 1, 1992 in Arlington, Virginia.
From teachers to sailors
The woman on the ship is in trouble. This is the famous saying, but the famous Grace Hopper managed to refute this proposition. She succeeded and earn the recognition of her comrades in the fleet, and receive the rank of lieutenant of the US Navy.
Grace explained her desire to step aboard the ship with heredity. Her grandfather served as the rear admiral of the fleet, and to go to serve in the army for her was something taken for granted.
The first attempt to break into the service turned out to be a failure. Due to the pronounced thinness and age, and Grace was already 37 years old, she was refused. But Hopper did not have a habit of giving up, and from the second time she was nevertheless taken to the fleet, having been sent to undergo preliminary training at the midshipman school. She finished this course “excellent”, having a reputation as the best graduate of the school.
Within the walls of Harvard
In wartime, the army was in dire need of new achievements. But the complexity of the calculations prevented scientists from realizing their ideas. It was a very painful and dreary process, which took a lot of time and energy. Then just came up with the idea of creating automated electronic computers, which were the immediate ancestors of today's computers.
Harvard University became the epicenter of the development of accepted projects. It is here, under the supervision of Howard Aiken and together with IBM, that the first computer in the history of the USA called “Mark-1” is being developed, in which a lot of money was invested. This machine could execute three addition or subtraction commands per second at the same time. Such a result was rightly considered worthy for that time. “Mark-1” overnight replaced the long and painstaking work of more than twenty operators, which could not but positively affect productivity.
Harvard work tempered Grace Hopper. A great responsibility rested on her shoulders, because the future of the country depended on the quality and timeliness of the implemented developments. She was not just a specialist in the development of electronic computers, but an innovator in the field of information technology.
Life on the "citizen"
1946 was a turning point for Hopper. Due to her age, she was transferred by the leadership to the fleet reserve and practically removed from the military service to which she had sought so long. This was a real shock for Grace and affected not the best way on psychological health. Hopper made attempts to find peace in alcohol, for which she was even repeatedly detained by the police for being drunk. Nevertheless, she managed to say goodbye to this addiction and to take up work with renewed vigor.
A strong-willed woman, able to pull herself together, despite the circumstances, such was Grace Murray Hopper. Key inventions her - the development of the compiler and the creation of one of the oldest programming languages COBOL, just at that time. Indeed, it is thanks to it that modern computers are able to understand multilevel programming languages that are more understandable to humans than machine code.
Place in history
The first who turned a computer from a huge computer into something more capable of solving many problems at the same time was a pioneer in the computer industry - Grace Hopper. A photo of the first computer, which is an impressive calculator, circled around the first headlines of the then-released media.
Grace believed that the computer should be "talk" not through zeros and ones, but with the help of the English language. She was able to defend her ideas in battle, in the literal sense of the word. She had to radically change the prevailing views on the nature of electronic computers, which not everyone could do. A keen and inquiring mind, knowledge of their field ultimately helped Hopper convince colleagues of his innocence.
After leaving the service, Grace took part in computer development more than once, as one of the most respected specialists in the scientific community. In 1959, she was asked to help standardize the COBOL Navy programming language. Despite such significant merits in the field of computer technology, Grace never surrounded herself with a halo of glory, considering her success only a lucky accident.
Return as a researcher
After his removal from service, in 1966, Grace was appointed head of the research group to solve pressing problems in the field of programming languages. Despite her young age, Grace immediately set to work. She was ready to spend days and nights there. Such was this great woman - Grace Hopper. A brief biography of its formation in the military field cannot but impress. And the number of inventions will not leave anyone indifferent - in the field of computer technology, she was not equal. Among the research team, she continued to actively standardize COBOL.
Leaving service
She resigned in 1986, being in the post of rear admiral, like her grandfather. She was often consulted by current sailors and businessmen in the field of programming languages. She devoted the last years of her vibrant life to enlightenment, speaking with reports at the university. She easily managed to earn the confidence of the young public and actually become an idol in the face of youth. Hopper worked for the benefit of society in the future, was known as a bright innovator in her field and was awarded many awards. Grace considered the service in the Navy to be the most valuable award that life had prepared for her.
Finally
She was rightly called the "mother" of computer technology. On January 1, 1992, the famous sailor woman, Grace Hopper, who won many awards and public recognition, left this world. Her biography is impressive, delighted. She was often referred to as an adviser by the current navy command, which can rightfully be proud of the “Amazing Grace”, in whose honor the USS Hopper destroyer and the Department of Energy's super-powerful computer were named. To many, to this day, she is an idol and role model.