February 14, 1947. There is no end to the speculation among journalists gathered at the University of Pennsylvania. It has been heard for a long time that they are going to meet a giant mechanical brain. Finally, today they met the giant device which is about 100 feet long, 3 feet wide and 10 feet high. It is the most famous computer in the history of the world - ENIAC. The world's first general-purpose, programmable, digital electronic computer.Arthur Box, a senior engineer at the ENIAC team, began showing reporters the power of ENIAC. At first he let her add five thousand numbers. The computer did it in a second. Then he showed its military power. Showed how it could calculate the direction of a bomb in a matter of moments.There is no way not to impress the journalists. This device is doing the work in a matter of moments, which used to take people hours and even days to do. Just a few switch taps and the results will come.
.jpeg)
Source
Naturally, the fame of ENIAC was spread. ENIAC has been awarded the titles of 'Electronic Brain', 'Wizard', 'Robot Brain' etc. Scientists and engineers associated with it rose to the pages of history. But almost no one mentioned a group of six women programming it. They were removed from history as if in secret.
Even decades later, very few outsiders knew who ENIAC's programmers were. Many of the women who were seen with the pictures thought that they were just models. They have been photographed standing up to enhance the look of the computer. But their role behind ENIAC was no less than that of the others. But why were they pushed behind? To know that, we have to go back to the beginning time of ENIAC.
During World War II, the U.S. military recruited about 100 mathematically skilled women. Their job was to calculate the direction of artillery. That is, to determine which direction a missile will follow if it is fired. In order to hit a target, in any weather, at any angle, the soldiers had to figure out from these calculations.
This work required considerable math skills. Non-linear differential equations had to be solved, differential analyzer machines had to be operated, slide rules had to be used. Although the work was very important, it was seen as a work of calculation. That is why women in particular were recruited.It was thought at the time that male engineers did not have time to waste. These women were then called 'computers' in keeping with their work.
As the war progressed, the need for these reckonings increased. Meanwhile, in 1942, physicist John Mosley proposed the development of an electronic calculator that could speed up the calculation process.