The Google Doodle has today been devoted to Grace Hopper, an American computer scientist who was born this day in 1906.
In 1934, Hopper became the first woman in Yale University’s 233 year old history to graduate with a doctorate in maths. She then became one of the most prominent women in the technology industry, leading the way for more women throughout the decades.
During the second world war, Hopper worked on the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator, or an "electronic brain", that calculated rocket trajectories, which eventually led scientists to build the atomic bomb.
She is also invented key software technologies that made today’s computer languages possible. Her persuasive techniques and knowledge of programming helped government agencies to agree on one common business programming language, Cobol.
The Cobol program is still an extremely important part of everyday technology, as the program helps to control worldwide transactions including withdrawals from cash machines.
As she was such an inspiration, female members of staff at Microsoft formed an employee group called Hoppers and created a scholarship in her honour. The Hoppers group now has over 3,000 members worldwide.
In an industry that is predominantly male, it is great that Google is reminding us that women can make massive differences in technology, and that gender is not, and never has been, an issue.
