IEEE Annals of the History of Computing

Key developments in the history of artificial intelligence are described in terms of a model of gender (Man of Reason), drawn from the work of philosopher Genevieve Lloyd, and informed by research in gender and technology and feminist epistemology. Significantly, the model demonstrates the elevation of mental knowledge over corporeal knowledge. Recent attempts to address the problem of embodiment ... View full abstract»

I joined Ferranti Ltd. in September 1950 from the University of Cambridge Mathematical Laboratory, where I had been Maurice Wilkes's first research student. I had just spent three years in Cambridge-one helping to design and build EDSAC and two using it-having arrived in the United Kingdom from Australia in September 1947. The Ferranti computing group was part of the sales section associated with ... View full abstract»

Over the course of history, women have slowly begun to hold influential roles in the computing industry. Although progress has been made, the precipitous journey is not yet complete. The paper presents a historical analysis of the entrance and role of women in the computing industry, a discussion on the existence and impact of the glass ceiling, and a detailed and informative collection of program... View full abstract»

The U.S. National Bureau of Standards (NBS) was instrumental in the development of what is now known as the field of numerical analysis and had a worldwide influence in defining the role of electronic computers in the scientific community. Women played key roles in all aspects of early computing in the NBS, including mathematics, programming, engineering, and management. The paper outlines some of... View full abstract»

Women's studies and computer science both evolved as academic disciplines in the 1960s, but they evolved along very different paths. The differences between science, engineering, and the humanities are discussed, followed by a brief review of women's studies. Feminist epistemology and its dedication to concrete learning introduce new ideas for gaining knowledge that will also make computer science... View full abstract»

There may be controversy about when the computer revolution began, but to me a revolution begins with an idea, and that idea was Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine conceived in 1834. The computer revolution also began with a woman, Augusta Ada Byron, Lady Lovelace, who wrote an article in 1843 that not only gave us descriptive, analytical, contextual, and metaphysical information about the Analyt... View full abstract»

A group of young women college graduates involved with the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer) are identified. As a result of their education, intelligence, as well as their being at the right place and at the right time, these young women were able to perform important computer work. Many learned to use effectively “the machine that changed the world” to assist in sol... View full abstract»