Marlin Meltzer ( born Marlyn Meltzer ; 1921 or 1922, Philadelphia - 2008, ) - American programmer , one of the first six ENIAK programmers [1] - the world's first electronic digital calculator of general purpose, which could be reprogrammed to solve wide range of tasks. The other five girls are Ruth Lichterman , , Betty Jean Jennings , Francis Elizabeth Snyder and [2] .
| Marilyn Melzer | |
|---|---|
| English Marlyn Meltzer | |
| Birth name | Marilyn Weskoff Marlyn wescoff |
| Date of Birth | |
| Place of Birth | |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
| Citizenship |  USA |
| Occupation | one of the first programmers ENIAC |
| Spouse | Philip Melzer |
| Awards and prizes | [d] [d] ( 1997 ) |
Content
Biography
Marilyn Weskoff (name at birth) was born in 1921 or 1922 in Philadelphia ( Pennsylvania ). In 1942 she graduated from Temple University . In the same year, she was hired by Moore’s Electrotechnical School to perform weather calculations , since she worked brilliantly on a summing machine . The following year, Marilyn was transferred to a much more serious department engaged in the calculation of ballistic trajectories [2] (at that time the Second World War was in full swing). In 1945, Marilyn and five other girls were selected to the group of the first programmers of the newly created ENIAC - the world's first electronic general-purpose digital computer that could be reprogrammed to solve a wide range of tasks.
ENIAK was a huge machine weighing about 30 tons , covering an area of 167 m² . It had 17,468 lamps , 7,200 silicon diodes, 1,500 relays , 70,000 resistors , 10,000 capacitors, and about 5,000,000 hand- soldered connections [3] . The computer consumed more than 150 kilowatts of electrical power and, therefore, in Philadelphia, many believed that every power outage in the city was due exclusively to the fact that ENIAC was included.
The male engineers who created this machine instantly became world-famous, but almost no one knew anything about the first girls - ENIAC programmers even at that time, and over time their names practically disappeared from the pages of computer history.
In 1947, Marilyn left a group of programmers in connection with marriage. After marrying Dr. Philip Melzer, she became Marilyn Melzer [1] . After that she was engaged in volunteer work in the library, Sunday school, in the home delivery service. Over the last four years of her life, Marilyn tied about 500 caps for women who lost hair as a result of chemotherapy for the organization .
Marilyn Melzer died on December 7, 2008 in the town of ( Pennsylvania ), where she lived with her husband permanently since 1957. At the time of death, Meltzer hailed his son Hugh, his daughter Joy, and three grandchildren and grandchildren.
Memory and Recognition
- In 1996 the book “Women ENIAC” was published .
- In 1997, Marilyn Melzer and her five female colleagues were included in the Hall of Fame of [4] [5] .
- In 2010, an American documentary Top Secret Rosies: The Female "Computers" of WWII was released , telling about women computing computers from the Second World War.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 ENIAC Programmers Project - Memorials (English)
- ↑ 1 2 Haley Williams. Behind The ENIAC Invisible Women: The Six Human Computers (eng.) On lifehacker.com.au , November 10, 2015
- ↑ For details, see ENIAC: Characteristics
- ↑ Hall of Fame Women in Technology International (English)
- ↑ Janelle Brown. Women Proto-Programmers Get Their Just Reward (English) on the site wired.com , May 8, 1997
Links
| The ENIAC Programmers (As Told By US Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith) | |
| Replay Assistance | |
- Marilyn Melzer (English) on ethw.org
- Die ENIAC-Programmiererinnen (German) on frauen-informatik-geschichte.de