Grace Hopper: biography, contribution to science

A mathematician, an innovator, a scientist and the only woman who managed to be known as the oldest officer in the history of the US Navy - this was Grace Murray Hopper. A brief biography of her will be presented to your attention below. Few women managed to pave the way for the fleet, and even more so get such a number of titles and awards. Hopper did it all. She resigned on August 14, 1986 at the age of 79 years.

In addition to merit in the military field, Hopper also became famous for inventions in the field of computer industry. She also co-authored the creation of UNIVAC-1, the first ever commercial computer, one of the creators of the programming language COBOL, an innovator in the development of advanced computer technologies, and also became an outstanding mathematician.

Meet Grace Hopper

Hopper was a very versatile person. As a student at the Vassar College of Vassar College, where she later taught mathematics, Grace Hopper became a bachelor. After a while, she already received a master's degree from Yale University, and four years later - a Ph.D. And already in 1943 it turns out to be enlisted in the active reserve of the navy. A year later she was awarded a lieutenant and invited for further cooperation at Harvard University, where she subsequently begins work on the first electronic computer "Mark-1".

Compiler Creator

Also in 1949 she took part in the development and creation of a computer called "UNIVAC-1" in Eckert and Mokli. The first person who expressed the idea of organizing programs from successive sequences of commands, called subroutines, was Grace Hopper. The contribution to science is invaluable. In addition, she also worked on the development of the first-ever compiler program. It was able to find the subroutine in the repository and create with them a pre-program in a binary code system that will be understandable to the computer.

Grace Hopper continued to work for the company after her merger with Remington Rand in 1951 and with Sperry Rand Corporation in 1955.

Next year, under her supervision, the department issues the first commercial program that performs the compilation - Flow-Matic.

Somewhat later she decides to resign from the service, however, next year the work again reminds of itself. Gray is called back to standardize the naval computer programming language .

She left for a deserved pension in 1986, remaining an active naval officer. Dies Grace on January 1, 1992 in Arlington, Virginia.

From teachers to sailors

The woman on the ship - to trouble. So says a famous saying, but the famous Grace Hopper managed to refute this judgment. She succeeded and deserve the recognition of her comrades in the navy, and get the rank of Lieutenant of the US Navy.

Her desire to set foot on the ship Grace explained heredity. Her grandfather served as a Rear Admiral of the fleet, and it was something taken for granted to go into the army for her.

The first attempt to break into the service turned out to be a failure. Because of pronounced thinness and age, and Grace was then 37 years old, she was refused. But Hopper did not have a habit of surrendering, and from the second time she was taken to the fleet, having sent her preliminary training at the school of midshipmen. This course she finished on "excellent", having been recognized 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 effort. Then just came the idea of creating automated electronic computers, which were the immediate ancestors of today's computers.

Harvard University has become the epicenter of the development of projects accepted for consideration. It was here, under the supervision of Howard Aiken and together with IBM, the first computer in the history of the United States, called Mark-1, was developed, in which a lot of money was invested. This machine could execute simultaneously three commands of addition or subtraction in a second. Such a result was rightfully considered worthy for that time. "Mark-1" overnight replaced the long and laborious work of more than twenty operators, which could not positively not affect the performance.

Work at Harvard tempered Grace Hopper. She had a great responsibility on her shoulders, because the future of the country depended on the quality and timeliness of the developments being implemented. She was not just an expert in the development of electronic computers, but an innovator in the field of information technology.

Life on a "citizen"

1946 was a turning point for Hopper. Due to age, she was transferred by the leadership to the reserve of the fleet and practically suspended from military service, to which she had long sought. This was a real shock to Grace and affected not the best way on psychological health. Hopper attempted 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 take up new work with new strength.

A strong spirit woman, able to pull herself together, despite the circumstances, this was Grace Murray Hopper. Main inventions Its - the development of the compiler and the creation of one of the oldest programming languages COBOL, are just at this time. After all, it is thanks to her that modern computers are able to understand multi-level programming languages that are more human-readable than machine code.

Place in history

The first who turned a computer from a huge computer into something more, capable of solving many problems simultaneously, was a pioneer in the field of the computer industry - Grace Hopper. A photo of the first computer, which is an impressive calculator, flew around the first headlines of the then-released media.

Grace believed that the computer should "talk" not through zeros and units, but with the help of English. She was able to defend her ideas with combat, in the truest sense of the word. She had to fundamentally change the prevailing views on the nature of electronic computers, which was not in everyone's power. A keen and inquisitive mind, knowledge of his business eventually helped Hopper convince his colleagues that he was right.

After leaving the service, Grace took part in computer development as one of the most respected experts of the scientific community. In 1959, she was asked to help standardize the programming language of the navy of COBOL. Despite such significant merits in the field of computer technology, Grace never surrounded herself with a halo of glory, considering her success as a lucky accident.

Returning as a Researcher

After her suspension from service, in 1966, Grace was appointed the head of the research group to address topical problems in the field of programming languages. Despite her no longer 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 her formation in the military field can not but impress. And the number of inventions will not leave anyone indifferent - in the field of computer technology, it was not equal. Among the research group, she continued to actively standardize COBOL.

Leaving the service

She resigned in 1986, being in the position of Rear Admiral, like her grandfather. The active seamen and businessmen in the field of programming languages often consulted for it. In the last years of her bright life, she devoted herself to enlightenment, speaking at the university. She easily managed to earn the confidence of the young audience and become virtually the idol in the person 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. The most valuable reward that life had prepared for her, Grace considered service in the Navy.

Finally

She was rightly called the "mother" of computer technology. On January 1, 1992, the famous sailor-woman, Grace Hopper, was awarded with many awards and public recognition. Her biography is impressive, delighting. She was often approached as an adviser by the current command of the Navy, which can rightly be proud of the "Amazing Grace", in honor of which the destroyer USS Hopper and the superpowerful computer of the Ministry of Energy were named. For many, and to this day, she is an idol and role model.