In our technology-driven world, it’s easy to forget the human minds that gave digital devices and tools to everyday life. And the women behind those innovations are often the first to forget.
Whether you realize it or not, you owe a lot of creative women a thank you for creating the technology that depends on it. Their add-on helps you use the Internet, get from point A to Point B, keep your home safe, and much more. Here are six women whose contributions to science and technology helped shape our world today.
1. Hedy Lambarr (1914-2000), “Mother of WiFi”
Hedy Lambarr, born Hedwig Eva Kizerler, was a Hollywood actress best known for her role in the Romantic Biblical Drama Samson and Delilah. Behind the scenes of his glorious acting career, Lamarr grew in popularity through innovation.
Lamarr worked creatively on his own time off set, using a small set of devices he kept in mind. In 1940, Lamarr met American pianist, composer and inventor George Antheil. The two bonded over their growing concern about World War II and pioneered new technology that would help the US fight the axis powers.
Lamarr and An Ansural were selected for a new communication system to guide the topoesties aimed at. The program was involved in “frequency hopping” -Jumping between different frequencies of radio waves – with the transmission and the composer and the reception of the hop at new frequencies together. This prevents exposure to radio waves, thus helping the torpedoes find their targets.
Their frequency hopping technology later found wifi, GPS, and Bluetooth. After his death in 2000, Lamarr was inducted into the national hall of fame for his achievements. Today, she is known as the “mother of wifi.”
2. Grace Murray Hopper (1906-1992), Piolous Editor
Grace Murray Hopper was a mathematician and military officer best known today for her pioneering work in computer programming. After receiving his commission as Lieutenant (Junior Grade), the hopper was assigned to the Bureau of Ships Completion Project at Harvard University, where he joined a team working on the Harvard Mark 1 computer.
This large electromonochanical computer, built by IBM in the year 1940, is the first in the US led by Howard Aiken, who has developed new rocket tables, and limited fakes to help the war effort. Hopper also wrote a book of over 500 pages about the Mark 1.
When World War II ended, Hopper turned down a professorship at Vassar College to focus on programming, according to Yale University. While working on the first commercial computer—the univac—in the early 1950s, he pioneered the idea of automatic programming and developed the first computer compiler, which paved the way for today’s programming languages.
In 1953, Hopper began developing a compiler for the English language to allow people to write programs with words instead of symbols. His work continued to advance the modern movement through the second half of the 20th century, laying the foundation for the software and programming languages of today.
3. Stephanie L. Kwolek (1923-2014), Inventor of Kevlar
Ever heard of Kevlar? Even if you don’t, chances are you are using it. This synthetic fiber is used in protective outerwear such as jackets and gloves, luggage, exercise equipment, consumer electronics, and much more. It is stable, heat resistant, heat resistant, and five times stronger than steel.
The woman behind this revolutionary request is Stephanie L. Kwolek, an American chemist who got her start as a polymer researcher at DuPont. Over several decades in his career, DuPont has proven to develop the next generation of missiles that can endure extreme conditions. Kwolek worked on the preparation of Intermediates, combining polyamides of high weight, dissolved in solvents, and finishing the solutions into fibers.
Under certain conditions, large amounts of polyamide-shaped molecules arrange themselves in parallel lines. The resulting solutions were unlike any polymer solutions ever synthesized in the lab, and Kwolek discovered that he could force them into strong, durable fibers known as Kevlar.
4. Mary Anderson (1866-1953), inventor of the Windshield Wiper
The next time you’re driving in inclement weather, say thank you to Mary Anderson, the inventor of the Windshield Wiper. Anderson – an American architect without a background in science or engineering – came up with the idea while riding a trolley car through New York City on a snowy day.
To see, his driver kept the windows rolled down and occasionally stopped to wipe snow and ice from the edges of the wind with his hands, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Mit). At the beginning of the 20th century, reduced visibility due to rain became the problem drivers simply accepted and learned to deal with their ways. Anderson thought there had to be a better way.
He built a spring-loaded arm with a rubber blade that can be mounted on the base of the windvield. When opened with a lever inside the car, the arm will rise across the glass, clearing rain, snow, or ice. Others had created similar devices before, but Anderson was the first to work. He built it in 1903, and its basic construction still works today.
5. Marie van Brittan Brown (1922-1999), Creator of the CCTV security system
Inventor Marie van Brittan Brown is best known for creating the first video surveillance system (CCTV), leading the development of modern security systems that protect homes, banks, offices and businesses today.
Brown began her career as a nurse, living and working in Queens, New York. Her husband, Albert Brown, worked as an electronics technician. Both worked odd hours, and the blacks often found themselves alone at night. He felt in danger, and began to cross the path of being able to see who was at his door without opening it.
She and her husband set up a security system that included four peepholes, a sliding camera, television monitors, and two-way microphones, according to the mit. It was the first CCTV security system.
With a microphone, Brown was able to communicate with people outside, while four peepholes and a sliding camera allowed the system to capture images of people at different heights. He even invented a remote control that allowed him to open the door from a safe distance and a panic button that alerted the police to intruders. Brown patented the technology in 1969, and the invention was eventually designated in 32 subsequent patent applications.
6. Gladys B. West (b. 1930), founded the GPS
The global positioning system, or GPS, plays a major role in modern life. Besides helping you get from place to place, this satellite-based navigation system is also used in various fields, including materials, construction, defense, emergency services, and many more.
Mathematician Gladys B. West played an important role in developing this technology. He began his career as a computer programmer in 1956 at the Naval proving ground today as Naval Base Dahlgren-Virginia.
In his 42 years of service, he worked on complex algorithms that can be answered by varying degrees of gravity, forces, and other forces that distort the structure of the earth. He programmed the IBM 7030 computer to create a very accurate model of the earth’s surface, which was later used for the GPS orbit used by satellites.
Western contributions to satellite geodity and other satellite measurements respected the accuracy of GPS. This technology would not be what it is today without his work, but logically, he told the Atlanta Black Star in 2018 that he chose a paper map when driving.
