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‘Broad Band’ is the best book we’ve read on women in computing


To those unfamiliar with computing history, the world’s first general-purpose computer was the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer). Made public in 1946, this 30-ton “giant brain” had a military purpose — it was created to help the US Army calculate artillery fire. The ENIAC was operated by six programmers — Kay McNulty, Betty Jennings, Betty Snyder, Marlyn Meltzer, Fran Bilas, and Ruth Lichterman. Handpicked from University of Pennsylvania’s engineering school, these six women were the first “computers” — and were subsequently left out of the celebration over the magical self-computing “giant brain.” And they were hardly an anomaly —…

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