Hidden Figures in Technology
In the broad topic of everything in life, there are countless people that were given credit for something that they didn’t solely invent or think of on their own. In return that leads to individuals that are not as widely known for their findings. It is no surprise that the ones that should be given more credit, or be more known for their findings are disproportionately women and people of color. In the topic of technology, this is prevalent. When people think of technology the people that come to mind are modern old rich white men even though there are other individuals including women and people of color that intellectually supported the modern rise of technology. In the BBC documentary Calculating Ada and the articles I read for the week on women and POC in technology, there was so much that I knew little about or have never heard of. I think that shows how much of a problem this is, especially in today's society, that women and people of color aren’t given adequate credit for their work. Technology has evolved tremendously over time from the first computers and calculators to the modern day where almost everything can be completed from your smartphone. Looking at how technology has developed over the last 50 or 100 years it is insane how far it has evolved and how many people have contributed to the rise in technology.
In regards to Ada Lovelace, the individual that the documentary Calculating Ada was based on, I personally have never heard of her. With that being said I don’t know a lot of individuals that have contributed to the rise of technology or technological systems. I do feel like I should have heard her name before if she is the first person that realized the full power that computers had. She is seen as the first-ever computer programmer. One thing that really stuck with me throughout the film that related to Ada Lovelace was the impeccable complexity and accuracy of the analytical engine that was featured in the documentary. In the film, they stated that the machine is accurate up to 31 decimal places and it was used for things like engineering and navigation (BBC, 2015). I think that machine is the template for a lot of modern-day technology and it was Ada that noticed how powerful the machine was and related it to how computers function. That was the first time I heard of the analytical engine and saw how it worked and it was truly beautiful.
One person that I researched was Gladys West and her contributions to technology. Her work has contributed to the GPS systems we have today on our smartphones (Childnet, 2020). Her mathematical knowledge and ability to solve mathematical problems manually lead her to program computers to do the math for her(Matthias, 2021). All of her academic achievements throughout her life contributed to the advancements of satellites which in turn lead to the modern-day GPS system. One of her first major notable works was on the Naval Ordinance Research calculator. Her work on that lead her to be the project manager of Seasat and GEOSTAT which was an experimental satellite that gave people information on different ocean and earth properties respectively (Matthias, 2021). I have personally never heard of Gladys West's contributions to satellites or the GPS system which shows how women and people of color achievements were overlooked and how they still are today. West’s achievements date back to 1956 but she wasn’t formally recognized for her attributions to technology until 2018. After researching West’s achievements throughout her life she is a very inspirational individual whose knowledge positively impacted the world of technology.
References:
BBC. (2015). Calculating Ada. Youtube. Retrieved September 27, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgUVrzkQgds.
Childnet. (2020, October 21). Black inventors and pioneers who have influenced the way we use the internet and technology Today. Childnet. Retrieved September 27, 2021, from https://www.childnet.com/blog/black-inventors-and-pioneers-who-have-influenced-the-way-we-use-the-internet-and-technology-today.
Matthias, M. (2021, July). Gladys West. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved September 27, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gladys-West.