Introduction
In the world of technology and computer science, we often hear about the groundbreaking achievements of men like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg. However, the contributions of women to the development of the internet and modern computing have been largely overlooked and erased from history. Claire L. Evans' book "Broad Band" aims to rectify this oversight by shining a light on the remarkable women who played pivotal roles in shaping the digital world we know today.
From the earliest days of computing to the birth of the internet and the rise of social media, women have been at the forefront of innovation, often working behind the scenes or in roles considered too mundane for their male counterparts. These women were trailblazers, forging new paths in a field that didn't yet exist and laying the groundwork for the technologies we now take for granted.
In this summary, we'll explore the fascinating stories of these pioneering women, their groundbreaking achievements, and the lasting impact they've had on the world of technology. We'll discover how their work in programming, information science, online publishing, and virtual communities has shaped the digital landscape we navigate today.
Ada Lovelace: The World's First Computer Programmer
Our journey through the history of women in computing begins with Ada Lovelace, a name that may not be as familiar as her famous father, the poet Lord Byron. Born in 1815, Ada was the only child of Byron's short-lived marriage to Anna Isabella Milbanke, a mathematics enthusiast. Determined to prevent her daughter from developing her father's wild tendencies, Milbanke arranged for Ada to receive a comprehensive mathematics education from the tender age of four.
Ada's natural talent for mathematics quickly became apparent, and she soon outgrew her tutors. Undeterred, she continued to educate herself through books and correspondence, developing friendships with leading scientists of her time. At the age of 17, a pivotal moment in Ada's life occurred when she met Charles Babbage, the creator of the difference engine – an early calculator designed to solve complex mathematical problems.
Fascinated by Babbage's work, Ada maintained her interest in his inventions even after her marriage to William King, who would later become the Earl of Lovelace. Despite the demands of her new role as a countess and mother, Ada's passion for mathematics and Babbage's work never waned.
When Babbage developed his analytical engine, a more advanced machine capable of general-purpose computation, Ada's expertise came to the fore. She stumbled upon a paper about the analytical engine in a Swiss journal and decided to translate it into English. As she worked on the translation, she not only corrected errors in the original text but also expanded upon it significantly.
Encouraged by Babbage, Ada published her notes along with the translation. By the time she finished, her work had grown to three times the length of the original paper and had become far more sophisticated. Ada's notes provided a comprehensive description of Babbage's vision for the analytical engine and explored its potential applications in mathematics. Her writing style was engaging and exciting, showcasing her unique ability to present technical analysis in an accessible manner.
Ada's work on the analytical engine went beyond mere translation and explanation. She developed the first algorithm intended to be processed by a machine, effectively making her the world's first computer programmer. This achievement was particularly remarkable given that the analytical engine itself was never built during her lifetime.
Throughout her work, Ada was guided by the Lovelace family motto: "Labor is its own reward." This phrase would later be engraved on her coffin when she died in 1852, a fitting tribute to a woman whose groundbreaking achievements went largely unrecognized during her lifetime.
It would take nearly a century before Ada Lovelace's contributions to the field of computer science were properly acknowledged. Today, she is celebrated as a pioneer in the field, and her legacy lives on in the countless women who have followed in her footsteps in the world of technology and programming.
Grace Hopper: The Trailblazing Computer Scientist
Fast forward to the mid-20th century, and we encounter another remarkable woman who left an indelible mark on the world of computing: Grace Hopper. Born in 1906, Hopper's journey into computer science began in an unexpected way – through military service during World War II.
In 1941, at the age of 36, Grace Hopper was a mathematics professor at Vassar College. When the United States entered World War II following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hopper felt compelled to serve her country. She made the bold decision to quit her job and join the U.S. Navy. Given her background in mathematics, Hopper assumed she would be assigned to code-breaking duties. Instead, she found herself at Harvard University, where she became one of the first programmers of the world's first computer, the Mark I.
At Harvard, Hopper worked under Lieutenant Howard Aiken, the designer of the Mark I computer. The machine was primarily used for solving complex ballistics problems to aid the war effort. Despite the lack of a user manual, Hopper quickly mastered the intricacies of the Mark I, demonstrating her exceptional problem-solving skills and becoming an invaluable asset to Aiken's team.
During her time at Harvard, Hopper wrote code that tackled some of the most challenging problems of the war. It wasn't until the atomic bombs were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima that she realized some of her calculations had contributed to the development of these devastating weapons. This realization likely had a profound impact on Hopper, highlighting the immense power and responsibility that came with her work in computer science.
One of Hopper's most significant contributions during this period was her practice of keeping reusable sections of programming code. This seemingly simple idea was the first step towards what would become her most important legacy in the field of computer science.
After the war, Hopper's expertise led her to a position as a programmer for UNIVAC, which was at the time the world's most powerful computer. As the demand for computers grew, so did the need for skilled programmers. Hopper recognized that the limited pool of expert programmers couldn't keep up with the increasing demands of customers. With remarkable foresight, she convinced her superiors that the future of computing lay in making programming accessible to non-experts.
Hopper's vision led to her appointment as the head of the new Automatic Programming Department at UNIVAC. In this role, she immediately set to work creating a compiler – a groundbreaking tool that allowed computers to write their own programs. This innovation marked a significant leap forward in making computers more user-friendly and accessible to a broader range of users.
As other companies began developing their own compilers, Hopper foresaw the potential chaos that could result from different computer brands using incompatible systems. In a display of leadership and foresight, she used her Navy connections to organize a meeting of every computer manufacturer in the country. The outcome of this meeting was a agreement to develop a universal, simple programming language that could be used across all computers.
This initiative led to the birth of COBOL (Common Business-Oriented Language) in 1959. COBOL quickly became the most widely used programming language in the industry, a testament to Hopper's vision and the practicality of her approach. Remarkably, COBOL is still in use today, more than 60 years after its implementation, underscoring the lasting impact of Hopper's work.
Grace Hopper's contributions to computer science earned her the affectionate nickname "Grandma COBOL." Her work not only advanced the field of programming but also made computing more accessible to a wider range of people. By bridging the gap between complex computer operations and user-friendly interfaces, Hopper played a crucial role in shaping the modern computing landscape.
The ENIAC Six: Pioneering Women in Computer Programming
While Grace Hopper was making strides in programming language development, another group of women was quietly revolutionizing the field of computer programming. These women, known as the ENIAC Six, were responsible for programming the world's first electronic computer, the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC).
To understand the significance of their work, it's important to note that the term "computer" originally referred to a person who performed complex mathematical calculations by hand. These human computers were predominantly women, and their work was so prevalent that the term "kilogirl" was coined to represent approximately a thousand hours of computing labor.
During World War II, the demand for computational power far exceeded what human computers could provide. In response, physics professor John Mauchly and engineer J. Presper Eckert designed the ENIAC. This massive machine, which filled an entire room, was programmed by six remarkable women: Kathleen "Kay" McNulty, Betty Jean Jennings, Elizabeth "Betty" Snyder, Marlyn Wescoff, Frances Bilas, and Ruth Lichterman.
These women, all former human computers who had been doing ballistics calculations during the early days of the war, faced a daunting challenge. The ENIAC had no user manual, so they had to teach themselves how to use and program the machine. This task required not only mental acuity but also physical effort, as programming the ENIAC involved physically replugging hundreds of cables for each calculation.
The ENIAC Six's work was groundbreaking, but it wasn't without its challenges. The war ended before the ENIAC became fully operational, but the machine captured public imagination following a successful demonstration engineered by members of the ENIAC Six in 1946. Despite their crucial role in making the demonstration a success, the women did not receive the credit they deserved for their hard work and innovation.
Among the ENIAC Six, Betty Jean Jennings and Elizabeth "Betty" Snyder, known as the "two Bettys," stood out for their exceptional programming skills. They worked together seamlessly, excelling at spotting each other's mistakes and prioritizing perfect code over personal egos. Their collaborative approach and attention to detail set a high standard for programming practices.
After the war, both Bettys went on to have long and pioneering careers in the commercial computer industry. Betty Snyder, in particular, was one of the creators of COBOL, the unified computer programming language developed at the instigation of Grace Hopper. This connection between the ENIAC Six and Hopper's work illustrates how these early women in computing were laying the foundations for future innovations in the field.
The story of the ENIAC Six is a powerful reminder of how women's contributions to computer science have often been overlooked or undervalued. These six women, faced with a machine they had never seen before and no instructions on how to use it, taught themselves to program and in doing so, became pioneers in a field that would shape the future of technology.
Women Building Communication Networks for Social Good
As we move into the late 1960s and early 1970s, we see how women continued to play crucial roles in the development of computer technology, particularly in using it for social good. One such pioneer was Pam Hardt-English, a computer science graduate student at UC Berkeley who became involved in anti-war protests following the US bombing of Cambodia in 1969.
Hardt-English and her fellow student activists had a vision that went beyond mere protest. They wanted to create communication networks that would connect various centers of counterculture. This idea, revolutionary for its time, was essentially a precursor to the internet as we know it today.
In the summer of 1970, Hardt-English and two of her classmates took a bold step. They dropped out of UC Berkeley and moved into Project One, a large warehouse in San Francisco that housed a community of hippies. It was in this unconventional setting that their vision of a decentralized information network began to take shape.
The goal was ambitious: to compile local information and resources and share them through a network. However, they faced a significant hurdle – they needed a computer, and personal computers didn't exist at the time. Undeterred, Hardt-English embarked on a determined quest to secure a computer for their project.
She compiled a list of 53 institutions and companies that might have a retired computer they'd be willing to donate. Through persistence and persuasion, she finally succeeded in securing a donation from TransAmerica Leasing Corporation. In April 1972, a massive SDS-940 computer, nicknamed "Resource One," was delivered to Project One.
But acquiring the computer was just the beginning of Hardt-English's challenges. Over the next three years, she tirelessly fundraised thousands of dollars to keep Resource One operational. Although the original plan to connect various counterculture hubs proved impractical, Resource One found other meaningful applications.
One of the most impactful uses of Resource One came from the efforts of three women: Mya Shone, Sherry Reson, and Mary Janowitz. They discovered that social service agencies in the Bay Area lacked a central database of services available for disadvantaged people. Recognizing the potential of Resource One to address this issue, they set out to create a comprehensive social services referral directory database.
Since social workers couldn't directly access the database, the volunteers took on the task of printing and distributing the directory every month. Eventually, every library in the city, as well as the Department of Social Services, had a copy of this invaluable resource. The impact of their work was long-lasting – the database was eventually taken over by the United Way charity and remained in use at the San Francisco Public Library until 2009.
This project represents one of the earliest efforts to apply computing technology for social good. It demonstrated how computers could be used not just for complex calculations or military applications, but also to organize and distribute information that could directly improve people's lives.
The story of Resource One and the social services directory highlights how women in the early days of computing often focused on practical, community-oriented applications of technology. While their male counterparts were often preoccupied with the technical aspects of computing, these women saw the potential for computers to solve real-world problems and improve society.
Elizabeth "Jake" Feinler and the Birth of the Modern Internet
As we delve deeper into the history of the internet, we encounter Elizabeth "Jake" Feinler, a woman whose work was crucial in organizing and maintaining one of the most important precursors to the modern internet: the ARPANET.
The ARPANET, funded by the US military and built in 1969, was an early online network that allowed scientists at US universities to share resources and communicate with each other. By 1972, the network had grown to include about 30 connections, and it became clear that a more organized system was needed to manage this expanding network.
Enter Elizabeth "Jake" Feinler, a chemist-turned-information scientist who was tasked with maintaining order on this early version of the internet. Feinler took charge of the Network Information Center (NIC), which served as the central office for ARPANET affairs at the Stanford Research Institute.
Feinler's first major task at the NIC was to create a resource handbook for the ARPANET. This involved meticulously documenting all the information about each site hosted on the network. In a matter of weeks, Feinler went from knowing virtually nothing about the ARPANET to becoming its definitive authority. The resource handbook she created, printed on paper, can be considered the first internet browser, making it easier for users to find out who was on the ARPANET and what resources were available.
As the network grew, so did Feinler's responsibilities. She became responsible for registering all new hosts on the network and indexing all the most important conversations that took place there. The NIC, under Feinler's leadership, also served as a precursor to modern search engines. Since host sites didn't advertise their resources, users looking for information would come to Feinler, who had an encyclopedic knowledge of where everything was on the ARPANET.
One of Feinler's most enduring contributions came as the network continued to expand. It became necessary to create a more organized system for assigning names and addresses to sites – what we now know as "domain names." Feinler suggested creating generic categories based on where computers were located: ".mil" for the military, ".gov" for the government, ".edu" for education, and ".com" for commercial businesses. This system, still in use today, has become a fundamental part of how we navigate the internet.
Feinler's work at the NIC was so successful that what started as a two-person team eventually grew into an eleven-million-dollar project. Her story is yet another example of how women in the early days of computing often took on roles that appeared mundane to their male colleagues but proved to be of immense importance in shaping the future of technology.
The work of Elizabeth Feinler and her team at the NIC laid the groundwork for many of the systems and conventions we use to navigate the internet today. From the creation of the first resource directories to the development of the domain name system, Feinler's contributions were crucial in transforming the ARPANET from a small, specialized network into a precursor of the global internet we know today.
Stacy Horn and the Birth of Social Media
As we move into the 1980s and early 1990s, we encounter Stacy Horn, a pioneer in the realm of online communities and an early architect of what we now recognize as social media. Horn's story begins when she was a graduate student in New York City in the early 1980s and joined The WELL, an online community based in California.
While Horn enjoyed the conversations with journalists, ex-hippies, and computer programming enthusiasts on The WELL, she soon found herself yearning for something more local and authentic to her New York City experience. The high cost of long-distance calls to connect to The WELL in California was also a factor in her decision to create something new.
In 1990, Horn took a bold step and created her own online community, which she called the "East Coast Hang-Out," or Echo. From the very beginning, Horn was determined to make Echo a vibrant and diverse community. She went to extraordinary lengths to find "Echoids," as she called her platform's users. Every night, she would visit parties, art openings, and museums, seeking out interesting people to join Echo. Her dedication often meant inviting potential users to her apartment to teach them how to use the platform, as computer literacy was not as widespread then as it is today.
Horn was particularly conscious of the gender imbalance in early internet communities. In the 1980s, only 10 to 15 percent of internet users were female. To address this, Horn made a concerted effort to recruit women to Echo, helping to create a more balanced and diverse online community.
Echo was designed to be an extension of the real world, with both common and private spaces. The private areas became particularly popular among Echoids, with separate spaces for women, men, recovering addicts, people under 30, and various other groups. This structure allowed for more intimate and focused discussions, anticipating the group and community features that are now common on modern social media platforms.
In 1994, Echo made a small but significant contribution to cultural history. During the nationally televised O.J. Simpson Bronco chase, Echoids posted their immediate reactions on the platform in real time. They called this practice "simulcasting," which we now know as "live-tweeting." This event foreshadowed how social media would come to play a crucial role in how we experience and discuss current events in real-time.
Echo also gave rise to what could be considered one of the first social media influencers. Marisa Bowe, who had honed her online conversational skills as a teenager in the 1970s, became a prominent figure on Echo. Despite being shy in person, Bowe was outgoing online and was chosen by Horn to create stimulating discussions on the platform. She developed such a following among fellow Echoids that she was treated like a mini-celebrity during their monthly meetups.
The story of Echo and Stacy Horn illustrates how women were at the forefront of developing online communities that would eventually evolve into the social media platforms we use today. Horn's emphasis on creating a diverse community, her innovation in designing both public and private spaces for interaction, and the emergence of influential personalities on the platform all presaged key features of modern social media.
Dame Wendy Hall and the Development of Hypertext
As we approach the birth of the World Wide Web, we encounter Dame Wendy Hall, a British computer scientist who made significant contributions to the field of hypertext, a crucial precursor to the web as we know it today.
It's important to note that while Tim Berners-Lee is famous for inventing the World Wide Web, this is not synonymous with inventing the internet. The internet is a network of computers, while the World Wide Web is a network of interconnected pages built using Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). HTML is the descendant of sophisticated hypertext systems that a number of women, including Wendy Hall, developed in the 1980s.
Hall's journey into computer science began in 1986 when the BBC was commemorating the 900th anniversary of the Domesday Book, an 11th-century census in England. The commemoration involved presenting a modern snapshot of life on two laser discs, as the World Wide Web didn't exist at the time. Hall was fascinated by how the material was presented and became intrigued by the possibilities of interactive media.
Her interest in the field grew during a 1989 sabbatical at the University of Michigan, where she discovered that clickable multimedia, known as "hypertext" or "hypermedia," was a popular discipline in the United States. Inspired by what she had learned, Hall returned to the University of Southampton in England with ideas for a new hypertext system.
An opportunity to put these ideas into practice came when the university archivist approached Hall with a project. The archives of the Earl of Mountbatten, which included photographs, speeches, and videos, had been donated to the university. Hall assembled a team to develop a hypertext system that would allow for easy browsing of these archives on a computer. By Christmas 1989, they had created Microcosm, a sophisticated hypertext system.
Microcosm was just one of several hypertext systems being developed around the world at that time. Another was the World Wide Web, developed by Tim Berners-Lee. Initially, many of Berners-Lee's academic colleagues were unimpressed with the Web's comparative lack of sophistication. However, its simplicity and the fact that it was free to use soon led to its widespread adoption.
Hall initially believed that Microcosm could coexist alongside the Web, and she put considerable effort into commercializing her hypertext system. However, the Web's growing popularity eventually eclipsed other hypertext systems, including Microcosm.
Despite this, Hall's work on Microcosm was not in vain. The principles and innovations developed in Microcosm and other early hypertext systems laid the groundwork for many of the features we now take for granted in web browsing. Hall's work contributed to our understanding of how to organize and link information in digital spaces, principles that are fundamental to how we navigate the internet today.
Dame Wendy Hall's story is a reminder that the development of the World Wide Web was not the work of a single individual, but rather the culmination of ideas and innovations from many researchers, including numerous women, working on hypertext and related technologies. Her contributions to the field of hypertext helped shape the way we interact with information online, even if the specific system she developed didn't become the dominant standard.
Jaime Levy: The Punk Rocker of Digital Publishing
As we move into the 1990s and the dawn of the World Wide Web, we encounter Jaime Levy, a pioneering figure in digital publishing who brought a punk rock sensibility to the emerging online world.
Growing up in Southern California, Levy was initially more interested in the punk rock scene than in computers. However, her perspective changed when a boyfriend introduced her to computer animations. Captivated by the creative possibilities, Levy began to explore the world of interactive media while studying at New York University.
After graduating in 1990, Levy moved to Los Angeles where she produced an innovative electronic magazine on floppy disks called Electronic Hollywood. This digital publication was a multimedia experience, featuring graphics, animations, and games alongside text. Levy described it as her "digital graffiti," a apt description for its edgy, unconventional style. She distributed the disks to independent book and record stores in Los Angeles, where they regularly sold out, attracting media attention and establishing Levy as a rising star in the nascent field of digital media.
Levy's innovative work caught the attention of rock star Billy Idol, who commissioned her to create one of her trademark floppy disks to accompany his album "Cyberpunk." Although the album itself wasn't a commercial success, the collaboration further raised Levy's profile in both the music and tech worlds.
When Levy discovered Mosaic, one of the first web browsers, she had an epiphany. She realized that her electronic magazines were essentially websites before websites existed. This realization led her to pivot her focus towards the emerging World Wide Web, seeing it as the future of digital publishing.
In 1995, Levy got a major opportunity when she was hired as the creative director of Word, a new online magazine. This role allowed her to apply her innovative electronic publishing skills to the web on a larger scale. One of her first moves was to bring on board Marisa Bowe, the early online influencer she had met through the Echo online community.
At Word, Levy and Bowe pushed the boundaries of what was possible in online publishing. Their work was groundbreaking, combining engaging content with innovative design and interactivity. By 1998, the online publication was attracting one to two million hits every week and receiving acclaim from major publications like Newsweek and the New York Times.
Levy's tenure at Word was relatively short-lived, however. She left the publication after just 18 months, expecting to be inundated with creative opportunities. Instead, she found that the landscape had shifted, with most available work being more corporate in nature.
While Levy may not be a household name today, her groundbreaking work in the 1990s demonstrated the full creative possibilities of digital publishing. She brought a punk rock ethos to the emerging digital landscape, challenging conventions and pushing the boundaries of what was possible in online media.
Levy's story illustrates how women were often at the forefront of exploring the creative potential of new technologies. While many were focused on the technical aspects of the internet, Levy saw it as a new medium for artistic expression and storytelling. Her work helped pave the way for the rich, interactive online experiences we take for granted today.
Final Thoughts: The Overlooked Legacy of Women in Computing
As we've journeyed through the history of computing and the internet, from Ada Lovelace's groundbreaking work on the analytical engine to Jaime Levy's innovative digital publishing in the 1990s, a clear pattern emerges. Women have been at the forefront of every major development in computer science and internet technology, yet their contributions have often been overlooked, undervalued, or outright erased from popular narratives of technological progress.
These women were true pioneers, often working in roles that were considered too mundane or peripheral by their male counterparts. Yet it was precisely these roles that proved crucial in shaping the digital world we inhabit today. From programming the first computers to organizing the early internet, from creating online communities to pushing the boundaries of digital publishing, women have been instrumental in every step of the journey.
Ada Lovelace's work on the analytical engine laid the foundation for modern programming concepts, long before physical computers existed. Grace Hopper's development of the first compiler and her role in creating COBOL made programming more accessible and practical for business applications. The ENIAC Six taught themselves to program the world's first electronic computer, paving the way for future generations of programmers.
Elizabeth "Jake" Feinler's work in organizing the early internet and developing the domain name system still influences how we navigate the web today. Stacy Horn's creation of Echo foreshadowed the rise of social media and online communities. Wendy Hall's innovations in hypertext contributed to the development of the World Wide Web. And Jaime Levy's experiments in digital publishing pushed the boundaries of what was possible in online media.
These women, and many others like them, were not just participants in the digital revolution – they were its architects and visionaries. They saw the potential of computing and the internet to transform society, often focusing on practical applications that could improve people's lives or open up new avenues for creativity and communication.
Yet despite their crucial contributions, these women have often been written out of the popular history of computing and the internet. The prevailing narrative has tended to focus on the achievements of men, perpetuating the misleading stereotype that computer science is primarily a male domain.
This erasure of women's contributions has had far-reaching consequences. It has contributed to the persistent gender imbalance in tech fields, discouraging girls and women from pursuing careers in computer science and related disciplines. It has also led to a skewed understanding of how technological progress actually occurs, overlooking the diverse perspectives and approaches that have been crucial to innovation in this field.
By reclaiming and celebrating the stories of these pioneering women, we gain a more accurate and complete understanding of the history of computing and the internet. We see that progress in this field has never been the result of lone male geniuses working in isolation, but rather the product of diverse teams of innovators, with women often playing crucial roles.
Moreover, recognizing the contributions of these women provides inspiration for future generations. It shows that women have always been capable of excelling in tech fields, even in the face of significant obstacles and biases. It demonstrates that some of the most important innovations in computing have come from people who approached problems from unconventional angles or who focused on practical, real-world applications rather than abstract technical challenges.
As we look to the future of technology, it's crucial that we learn from this hidden history. We need to ensure that the contributions of women and other underrepresented groups are recognized and celebrated. We need to create more inclusive environments in tech fields, welcoming diverse perspectives and approaches. And we need to continue to challenge the stereotypes and biases that have for too long limited our understanding of who can excel in computer science and related fields.
The story of women in computing and the internet is not just a tale of past achievements – it's a roadmap for a more inclusive and innovative future. By acknowledging and learning from this rich legacy, we can create a tech industry that truly reflects the diversity of human ingenuity and creativity. In doing so, we'll be better equipped to tackle the complex challenges of our increasingly digital world, harnessing the full potential of technology to improve lives and transform society.