margaret hamilton biography margaret hamilton biography

They liked to kid me about my radical ideas. Margaret Hamilton was born on August 17, 1936. [19] She later moved to Millbrook, New York. On weekends, she took her daughter Lauren to the lab to spend time with her, while she worked writing the computer routines that would go on the Apollo command module computer. SAGE was soon developed for military use in anti-aircraft air defense. Her crisp voice with rapid but clear enunciation was another trademark. In 1945, she played the domineering sister of Oz co-star Jack Haley in George White's Scandals, comically trying to prevent him from marrying actress Joan Davis, even going so far as to throw a hatchet at her. Margaret H. Hamilton is a computer scientist who was instrumental to NASA's efforts to land humans on the moon in the 1960s and 1970s. As the alarms went off and priority displays replaced normal ones, the actual switchover to new programmes behind the screens was happening "a step slower" than it would today. Danko sat on a smoking pipe configured to look like the Witch's broomstick. Throughout the 1970s, Hamilton lived in New York City's Gramercy Park neighborhood and appeared on local (and some national) public-service announcements for organizations promoting the welfare of pets. In that role, she took the lead on the software used to govern the flight dynamics of the Apollo spacecraft, which were used for six landing missions between 1969 and 1972. five.[28]. Hamilton, now an independent computer scientist, described for MIT News in 2009 her contributions to the Apollo software which last month was added in its entirety to the code-sharing site GitHub: From my own perspective, the software experience itself (designing it, developing it, evolving it, watching it perform and learning from it for future systems) was at least as exciting as the events surrounding the mission. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science since 2015. [14] The SAGE Project was an extension of Project Whirlwind, started by MIT to create a computer system that could predict weather systems and track their movements using simulators. Hamilton was the recipient of various honours, including NASAs Exceptional Space Act Award (2003). She later founded two software companiesHigher Order Software in 1976 and Hamilton Technologies in 1986, both in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Margaret-Hamilton-American-computer-scientist, Space.com - Margaret H. Hamilton: Apollo Computer Programmer, Wired - Her Code Got Humans on the Moon - And Invented Software Itself, Margaret Hamilton - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Margaret Hamilton - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Margaret Hamilton was born December 9, 1902 in Cleveland, Ohio, to Jennie (Adams) and Walter Hamilton. [36], When Hamilton started using the term "software engineering" during the early Apollo missions,[57] software development was not taken seriously compared to other engineering,[58] nor was it regarded as a science. Four years later, she obtained the Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics at Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana (USA). Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. Her name was clearly visible when the entire Apollo 11 source code was released on GitHub in 2016; according to MIT, the first full line of the software read, "SUBMITTED: MARGARET H. HAMILTON DATE: 28 MAR 69 / M.H.HAMILTON, COLOSSUS PROGRAMMING LEADER / APOLLO GUIDANCE AND NAVIGATION.". [16] She moved on to another project in the summer of 1961, and hired and trained Ellen Fetter as her replacement.[12]. From 1961 to 1963, Hamilton worked on the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) Project at the MIT Lincoln Lab,[14] where she was one of the programmers who wrote software for the prototype AN/FSQ-7 computer (the XD-1), used by the U.S. Air Force to search for possibly unfriendly aircraft. [20][41] They created a product called USE.IT, based on the HOS methodology they developed at MIT. Design & Development: Learn How rich is She in this year and how She spends money? The original caption, she says, reads: Here, Margaret is shown standing beside listings of the software developed by her and the team she was in charge of, the LM [lunar module] and CM [command module] on-board flight software team.. She appeared in The Phil Silvers Show episode S2E20 Bilko Enters Politics (05 February 1957). We knew that. President Barack Obama presents Apollo code developer Margaret Hamilton (at left) and "Apollo 13" actor Tom Hanks (right) with the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Nov. 22, 2016. For other people named Margaret Hamilton, see. ..and your little dog, too!" The woman behind of cinema's most iconic villains, Cleveland-born Margaret . She is best known for playing the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz.In movies, she often played older, unmarried women from New England who was extremely practical but did not enjoy jokes. Hamilton had thought long and hard about this. View popular celebrities life details, birth signs and real ages. At MIT, Margaret Hamilton was on the staff of the Draper Laboratory, founded in 1932 by Dr. Charles Stark Draper. We had to find a way and we did. Margaret Hamilton was born December 9, 1902 in Cleveland, Ohio, to Jennie (Adams) and Walter Hamilton. She was Director of the Software Engineering Division of the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, which developed on-board flight software for the Apollo space program. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. It does not store any personal data. Without exaggeration, it could be said that the heroes of the arrival to the Moon were four: Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins and Margaret Hamilton. Cameron Diaz Biography, Facts & Life Story, Cam Newton Biography, Facts & Life Story, Roman Reigns Biography, Facts & Life Story, Lindsay Lohan Biography, Facts & Life Story, Christopher Lloyd Biography, Facts & Life Story, Michael Chiklis Biography, Facts & Life Story, Computer Scientist, Systems Engineer and Business Owner. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and (soon) a Bachelor of History from Athabasca University. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. Credit: Courtesy MIT Museum Margaret Hamilton's Apollo Code A brief history of the famous 1969 photo of the software that sent humans to the Moon. She was portrayed by Fenella Woolgar in "Judy" (2019). Hamilton and Ray Bolger were cast members in the 1966 fantasy film The Daydreamer, a collection of stories by Hans Christian Andersen. Biography. A century earlier, she had a worthy British predecessor named Ada Lovelace. We took our work seriously, many of us beginning this journey while still in our 20s. "Hamilton was honored by NASA in 2003, when she was presented a special award recognizing the value of her innovations in the Apollo software development," NASA wrote in 2016. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998. Computer scientist Margaret Hamilton poses for a series of photos with the Apollo guidance software she and her team developed at the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory. She also published six books. Mutual respect was across the board. Later in the decade, she was in a little-known film noir, titled Bungalow 13 (1948), in which she again costarred opposite Cromwell. Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. Hamilton was born in Cleveland, Ohio and practiced her craft doing children's theater while she was a Junior League of Cleveland member. What I do?!!! Her "priority display" innovation had created a knock-on risk that astronaut and computer would slip out of synch just when it mattered most. Anthony Oettinger,[53] Barry Boehm,[citation needed] and Hamilton have been credited with naming the discipline of "software engineering". Zack, Suzanne. According to MIT, this was the first air defense system for the country and helped to push forward digital computing in the 1950s and 1960s. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. [4] They divorced in 1967 and Margaret married Dan Lickly two years later.[80][82]. She lived in Manhattan for most of her adult life, and summered in a cottage on Cape Island, Southport, Maine. Hamilton costarred opposite Buster Keaton and Richard Cromwell in a 1940s spoof of the long-running local melodrama The Drunkard, titled The Villain Still Pursued Her. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Hamilton next worked at MITs Instrumentation Laboratory (now the independent Charles Stark Draper Laboratory), which provided aeronautical technology for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). I said, 'Yes?' !' And there's always a funny reaction, like 'Ye gods, they wish they hadn't asked.' At the time, no schools taught software engineering, so the team members had to work out any problems on their own. Hamilton said: What they used to do when you came into this organization as a beginner, was to assign you this program which nobody was able to ever figure out or get to run. It turned out that the astronaut checklist, which governed the actions the crew had to do before landing, had the crew set the rendezvous radar hardware switch in the wrong position. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. is 5'(1.52m) . Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. A complete set of recovery programs was incorporated into the software. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. [81][80] She briefly taught high school mathematics and French at a public school in Boston, Indiana. She studied mathematics at the University of Michigan in the 1950s and later earned a BA in mathematics with a minor in philosophy from Earlham College in 1958. It was an ongoing joke for a long time. [11], In Boston, Hamilton initially intended to enroll in graduate study in abstract mathematics at Brandeis University. [12] She developed software for predicting weather, programming on the LGP-30 and the PDP-1 computers at Marvin Minsky's Project MAC. In the early 1960s Hamilton joined MITs Lincoln Laboratory, where she was involved in the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) project, the first U.S. air defense system. Margaret Hamilton was born December 9, 1902 in Cleveland, Ohio, to Jennie (Adams) and Walter Hamilton. [16][18] These made her code incredibly reliable because they helped programmers identify and fix anomalies before they became major problems.[26]. A brief history of the famous 1969 photo of the software that sent humans to the Moon. marriedcelebrity; April 19, 2019; Celebrity Gossip; Born as Margaret Heafield, she is an American system engineer, computer scientist and a woman entrepreneur as well. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. In 1976, Hamilton co-founded with Saydean Zeldin a company called Higher Order Software (HOS)[40] to further develop ideas about error prevention and fault tolerance emerging from their experience at MIT working on the Apollo program. (Apollo 13 aborted before landing due to an explosion in the command module's service area.). [10] She also made personal appearances, and Hamilton described the children's usual reaction to her portrayal of the Witch: Almost always they want me to laugh like the Witch. Click here if you want to see this biography in Spanish translation. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Paul Boynton Meserve (13 June1931 - 20 May1938)( divorced)( 1 child). "Kindergarten Lost Margaret Hamilton." Her husband is Paul Boynton Meserve (13 June1931 - 20 May1938)( divorced)( 1 child). She later attended Hathaway Brown School in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and practiced acting doing children's theater while a Junior League of Cleveland member. Opposite Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, she played a heavily made-up witch in Comin' Round the Mountain, where her character and Costello go toe-to-toe with voodoo dolls made of each other. In 2019, she was awarded the Intrepid Lifetime Achievement Award. She helped write the computer code for the command and lunar modules used on the Apollo missions to the Moon in the late 1960s and early 70s. We have a full Biography, Photos, Theatre Credits, and more! New York, Hamilton and Morgan never share any scenes in Oz. She subsequently developed Alzheimer's disease and died in her sleep following a heart attack on May 16, 1985 in Salisbury, Connecticut at the age of 82. In 1965 Margaret was named responsible for the development of the flight software for the computers that would go on board the Apollo spacecraft. Daneman's nephew refused to meet Hamilton because even though he understood she was an actress, he thought it was still possible she really was like the character in the movie. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. [30][31][32] The program alarms indicated "executive overflows", meaning the guidance computer could not complete all of its tasks in real time and had to postpone some of them. The company was developed around the Universal Language of Software Design Systems. The contract was awarded just weeks before then-President John F. Kennedy announced that he planned to have humans on the moon by the end of the decade. American software engineer and businesswoman, American computer programmer, businessman, and philanthropist. [27] We knew that. She did a stint as a What's My Line? Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. As Neil Armstrong was already preparing to bring the ship down, the computer started displaying two errors: error 1201 and error 1202. My Little Chickadee. Margaret Hamilton is an American software engineer and computer scientist best known for leading the team responsible for creating the software for the Apollo moon missions and Skylab space station. [16] Hamilton also served as Director of the Software Engineering Division. The crowning mission, Apollo 11 in July 1969, saw Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin descend all the way to the surface in the lunar module, safely return to the command module (piloted by Mike Collins) and make it home to Earth. This brilliant mathematician, systems engineer, and computational scientist, was Director of the Software Engineering Division of the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory. Related: Apollo Coder and 'Apollo 13' Actor Receive Presidential Medals of Freedom, SpaceX scrubs Crew-6 astronaut launch due to ignition-fluid issue, Experience SpaceX's Crew-6 astronaut mission with these amazing photos, DNA from 4 American presidents will launch to deep space, Asteroid Ryugu is rich in organic molecules that can be building blocks of life, On This Day In Space: Feb. 26, 1966: 1st launch of Saturn 1B rocket, Your monthly guide to stargazing & space science, Subscribe today and save an extra 5% with code 'LOVE5', Issues delivered straight to your door or device. City Without Men. "Everything was going according to plan until something totally unexpected happened, just as the astronauts were in the process of landing on the moon," she recalled. Margaret Dawn Hamilton AM (23 June 1941 - 24 November 2022) [1] was an Australian children's literature publisher who served as the National President of the Children's Book Council of Australia from 1991 to 1992 and as a National Board Member until April 2017 when she formally retired. [2] Before she turned to acting exclusively, her parents insisted she attend Wheelock College in Boston, which she did, later becoming a kindergarten teacher. Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". , money, salary, income, and assets. [22][16] Another part of her team designed and developed the systems software. She led a team that was tasked with developing the software for the guidance and control systems of the in-flight command and lunar modules of the Apollo missions. After she recuperated, she said, "I won't sue, because I know how this business works, and I would never work again. 1967) {Ex-Husband}, Your email address will not be published. Although Margaret planned to study abstract mathematics at Brandeis University, she accepted a job at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) while her husband attended Harvard Law School. She was director of the Software Engineering Division of the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, which developed on-board flight software for NASA 's Apollo program. It meant that if Aldrin, say, hit a button on the priority display too quickly, he might still get a "normal" response. and he said 'Maggie, they want you to play a part on the Wizard.' She also gained recognition for her work as an advocate of causes designed to benefit children and animals and retained a lifelong commitment to public education. The Opportunity of a Lifetime. Hamilton's line from The Wizard of Oz "I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!" But a software incident almost derailed the landing, as Hamilton recalled in a 2009 interview with MIT. 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