Proving Ground: The Untold Story of the Six Women Who Programmed the World’s First Modern Computer

Proving Ground: The Untold Story of the Six Women Who Programmed the World’s First Modern Computer

  • Downloads:4080
  • Type:Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date:2022-08-17 17:21:47
  • Update Date:2025-09-06
  • Status:finish
  • Author:Kathy Kleiman
  • ISBN:B096RT99B8
  • Environment:PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle

Summary

For fans of Code Girls and Hidden Figures, PROVING GROUND is the untold, World War II-era story of the six American women who programmed the world's first modern computer。

After the end of World War II, the race for technological supremacy sped on。 Top-secret research into ballistics and computing, begun during the war to aid those on the front lines, continued across the United States as engineers and programmers rushed to complete their confidential assignments。 Among them were six pioneering women, tasked with figuring out how to program the world's first general-purpose, programmable, all-electronic computer--better known as the ENIAC— even though there were no instruction codes or programming languages in existence。 While most students of computer history are aware of this innovative machine, the great contributions of the women who programmed it were never told -- until now。 

Over the course of a decade, Kathy Kleiman met with four of the original six ENIAC Programmers and recorded extensive interviews with the women about their work。 PROVING GROUND restores these women to their rightful place as technological revolutionaries。 As the tech world continues to struggle with gender imbalance and its far-reaching consequences, the story of the ENIAC Programmers' groundbreaking work is more urgently necessary than ever before, and PROVING GROUND is the celebration they deserve。

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Reviews

Lanette

Really enjoyed this one。 These women were the pre-cursor to the Hidden Figures。

Kelly

Fascinating story on programming of the first "modern" computer by women computers。 Fascinating story on programming of the first "modern" computer by women computers。 。。。more

Stephanie (abookandadog)

I had no idea that the history of computer development was so closely intertwined with military history。 And I was surprised to learn that women were deeply involved and so commonly overlooked in the history books。 I’ve been considering a career in the technology industry and this is even more motivation to find my place in history。 This book covers the lives of the 6 women involved in the beginning of the ENIAC computer and though I got lost in their personal stories since there are so many of I had no idea that the history of computer development was so closely intertwined with military history。 And I was surprised to learn that women were deeply involved and so commonly overlooked in the history books。 I’ve been considering a career in the technology industry and this is even more motivation to find my place in history。 This book covers the lives of the 6 women involved in the beginning of the ENIAC computer and though I got lost in their personal stories since there are so many of them, I do appreciate that the author took the time to get to know these titans of history and to make sure their story is not lost to time。 。。。more

Madalyn Avitabile

I really enjoyed this historical account of the women who paved the way of American computer programming。 As someone who tok computer science courses in college, I am very sad that I did not know about the great work these women did。 This account managed to describe the world of programming in a way that was accessible to the non programmer and that is a mark of a great history in my book。 I will be recommending this to people who enjoy stories about women, people who like science and this looki I really enjoyed this historical account of the women who paved the way of American computer programming。 As someone who tok computer science courses in college, I am very sad that I did not know about the great work these women did。 This account managed to describe the world of programming in a way that was accessible to the non programmer and that is a mark of a great history in my book。 I will be recommending this to people who enjoy stories about women, people who like science and this looking for a unique subject to learn about。 。。。more

Andréa

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss。