Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age (Lemelson Center Studies in Invention and Innovation series)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.72 (977 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0262517264 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 408 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-02-03 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Both rebellious and collaborative, Hopper was influential in male-dominated military and business organizations at a time when women were encouraged to devote themselves to housework and childbearing. A Hollywood biopic about the life of computer pioneer Grace Murray Hopper (1906--1992) would go like this: a young professor abandons the ivy-covered walls of academia to serve her country in the Navy after Pearl Harbor and finds herself on the front lines of the computer revolution. Throughout Hopper's later years, the popular media told this simplified version of her life story. In Grace Hopper and the Inventionof theInformation Age, Kurt Beyer reveals a more authentic Hopper, a vibrant and complex woman whose career paralleled the meteoric trajectory of the postwar computer industry. Hopper's greatest technical achievement was to create the tools that would al
History vs biography -- history won R. Olcott This book brought home to me the difference between history and biography. As a 50-year computer veteran (wrote my first program in 1959) I appreciated many of the firsts and trends that the author highlights. However, I got very little sense of Grace Hopper the person behind the technical and organizational achievements he celebrates. As an example, did she really just casually discard a marriage in order to enlist in the Navy? We're told she had a wonderful sense of humor but in the entire book there's only one example of an office prank she in. CCrascal said does not flow but has anything you might want to. does not flow but has anything you might want to know about her.pioneer for women toomade computers easier for all.. Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age Pam Gilberd What a fascinating woman. What a fascinating era. Kurt Beyer brings her story to life and explains much about the early days of computers and programming that most of us don't know and simply take for granted. Beyer blends history, technological information and human interest into this worthwhile read. Thank you.
Beyer is a former professor at the United States Naval Academy and lectures regularly on the process of technological innovation.. Kurt W
Williams, Professor Emeritus, Department of Computer Science, University of Calgary)Beyer's meticulously researched biography shows how Hopper was one of the first to realise that software was the key to unlocking the power of the computer. Beyer reveals interesting facts and aspects of her life that I have never seen published. (Booklist) . I saw Grace Hopper speak when I was a young software programmer at Bell Labs. While she spoke of great technology and the power of computing, she also re-enforced the creative power of youthful thinking, public speaking, and collaborative efforts. (The Guardian)Bravo to Beyer for unearthing the fascinating, many-faceted historyof a phenomenal technology we take for granted and for portraying a woman of astonishing powers. Grace Hopper and