Proving Ground: The Untold Story of the Six Women Who Programmed the World’s First Modern Computer (by Kathy Kleiman)
I enjoy reading up on computer history, and this is a pretty good retelling of an important story. However, the parts that really struck me are the personal accounts of the author in trying to recover this history. The ENIAC 6 played an important role in the history of the first computer and of programming as a vocation, but their story was almost forgotten. To the point that these women were not even invited to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the ENIAC. That's shameful, and I'm happy that they finally have started to get the recognition they deserve.
If you're interested in this history, Jean Jennings Bartik also wrote an autobiography, that tells the story from her perspective.
I read both of these books recently and I feel they are both worth a read. The Bartik autobiography has very little technical information but it's interesting to get an understanding of how things were for her.
I enjoy reading up on computer history, and this is a pretty good retelling of an important story. However, the parts that really struck me are the personal accounts of the author in trying to recover this history. The ENIAC 6 played an important role in the history of the first computer and of programming as a vocation, but their story was almost forgotten. To the point that these women were not even invited to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the ENIAC. That's shameful, and I'm happy that they finally have started to get the recognition they deserve.
If you're interested in this history, Jean Jennings Bartik also wrote an autobiography, that tells the story from her perspective.