Today, we draw inspiration from three pioneering women in computer science: Ada Lovelace, Katherine Johnson, and Grace Hopper. We asked two of our students, Gwennan Drouillet and Zi Yu Choo, to share their thoughts on these historic figures, and what their achievements mean to generations of girls in science that came after them.
[11/02/2025] On 11th February, we celebrate the contributions of women and girls to the scientific world. In 2015 the United Nations General Assembly declared it the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.
Ada Lovelace: The world’s first computer programmer
Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) was a British mathematician and writer known for her work on Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine. She was the first to recognise its potential beyond mere calculation, and she is often credited with writing the first computer program.
Her parents separated shortly after her birth, and her mother encouraged her interest in mathematics and logic. Despite frequent illness, Lovelace pursued her studies diligently.
Her social and educational pursuits connected her with prominent scientists and authors, including Charles Babbage, Michael Faraday, and Charles Dickens.
Lovelace's collaboration with Babbage began when she was 18, leading to her translation of an article by Luigi Menabrea on the Analytical Engine. Her extensive notes on this translation included what is considered the first algorithm intended for a machine. Lovelace envisioned computers' capabilities extending beyond calculations, a concept she termed "poetical science."
The programming language Ada is named in her honour.
Ada Lovelace’s work has had a significant impact on modern computing. She was the first person to realise that computers could do more than basic calculations—they could follow a set of instructions, which is what programming is today.
One major lesson from Ada Lovelace’s approach to problem-solving is that thinking outside the box is important. She also worked hard, even when people didn’t take women in science seriously at the time.
I think the future for women in STEM is exciting. More girls are getting interested in science and technology, and there are so many programs now to support them. But there’s still work to do - women are still underrepresented in many areas of STEM. I hope that by celebrating people like Ada Lovelace, we can encourage more girls to go into science!
Ada Lovelace’s work paved the way for modern computing. She looked beyond numbers and imagined machines that could work with symbols and ideas—an early glimpse of software and AI.
Her story shows the power of blending logic with creativity. Her curiosity, determination, and passion shaped who she was. At just age 12, she studied bird anatomy, materials, and wing sizes in hopes of building a flying machine. She was extremely intelligent, tackling problems without being held back by the social norms of her time.
It’s great to see more women making strides in STEM, but there’s still progress to be made. Through her story, I hope to see more girls being inspired and empowered to pursue careers in STEM fields.
Katherine Johnson: The mathematician who sent astronauts to space
Katherine Johnson (1918-2020) was an American mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics were crucial to the success of the first U.S. crewed spaceflights. Over her 33-year career at NASA, she mastered complex manual calculations and pioneered the use of computers for these tasks, becoming one of the first African American women to work as a NASA scientist.
Johnson calculated trajectories, launch windows, and emergency return paths for Project Mercury, including missions for astronauts Alan Shepard and John Glenn. She also worked on the Apollo Lunar Module's rendezvous paths and contributed to the Space Shuttle program and plans for a Mars mission. Known as a "human computer," her mathematical prowess was vital during a time of limited technology and recognition.
In recognition of her contributions, Johnson received numerous honours, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 and the Congressional Gold Medal. She was posthumously inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2021.
Katherine Johnson’s most significant impact at NASA was making space travel possible with her precise calculations. She played a key role in Apollo 11 and helped introduce computers to spaceflight, changing NASA forever. Her story is really inspiring because she proved that determination and talent can break down barriers. As a Black woman in a male-dominated field, she faced so many obstacles, yet she never let that stop her. Her confidence in her own abilities, even when others doubted her, motivates me to keep pushing forward in STEM, even when things feel difficult.
As a woman in STEM, I’ve sometimes felt like I must prove myself more. But I’ve learned to believe in myself and my abilities, just like Katherine Johnson did.
I first knew about Katherine Johnson’s story through the Hidden Figures movie. Being one of the first African American woman working in NASA, she often faced discrimination towards her sex and race. During that time, she was unable to take credit for the technical work that she did in this male dominated field.
Despite the challenges, she overcame these challenges through her expertise and precision in mathematics, alongside persistence. Over time, her excellence and contributions were impossible to be ignored. Her work was essential to the success of the first American spaceflight and the first moon landing. Today, she is recognised as one of the greatest mathematicians.
Her determination, intelligence, and unwavering commitment to excellence helped overcome hurdles for future generations of women in STEM. At times, I feel that my insights and contributions are overlooked, even when they are just as well-founded as those of my male peers. However, after knowing Katherine’s story, I believe that persistence and self-assurance is key to excel in any fields.
Grace Hopper: The pioneer of computer programming languages
Grace Hopper (1906-1992) was an American computer scientist, mathematician, and U.S. Navy rear admiral. She was a pioneer in computer programming, developing the theory of machine-independent programming languages. This led to the creation of the FLOW-MATIC and COBOL languages, the latter still in use today. Hopper was among the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer and authored the first computer manual.
She earned a Ph.D. in mathematics and mathematical physics from Yale University and taught at Vassar College before joining the Navy Reserve during World War II. She began her computing career in 1944 with the Harvard Mark I team and later joined the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, contributing to the development of the UNIVAC I computer and managing the creation of one of the first COBOL compilers.
Believing in the simplification of programming through English-based languages, Hopper developed a compiler that translated English terms into machine code. By 1952, she had completed her program linker for the A-0 System. She led the release of early compiled languages like FLOW-MATIC and played a key role in the creation of COBOL in 1959.
Hopper received numerous honours, including 40 honorary degrees, the National Medal of Technology, and posthumously, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The USS Hopper, the Cray XE6 "Hopper" supercomputer, and the Nvidia GPU architecture "Hopper" are named in her honour. In 2024, the IEEE dedicated a marker at the University of Pennsylvania recognising her invention of the A-0 compiler.
Grace Hopper’s innovations in programming inspire me because she made coding more accessible. Her work on compilers and COBOL showed that programming could be written in a way people could understand, which is something I appreciate when learning to code today.
The quality I admire most about Grace Hopper is her determination to challenge the status quo. She believed computers should be easier to use and never took "no" for an answer. Her famous saying, "It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission," shows how fearless she was in pushing technology forward.
To me, being a woman in STEM means following in the footsteps of pioneers like Grace Hopper. It’s about breaking barriers, staying curious, and proving that women have a huge role to play in shaping the future of science and technology.
Grace Hopper’s work in developing English-based programming languages and compilers has had a lasting impact on computer science. The languages she created were both accessible and efficient, laying the groundwork for modern software. As someone fascinated by computer systems, I find her contributions incredibly inspiring because they show how powerful abstraction, and automation can be in computing.
What I admire most about Grace Hopper is her fearless approach to challenging the status quo. Her ideas and visions were ahead of her time, she truly believed that programming should be intuitive and easy to understand. Even when people doubted her, she kept pushing forward with new innovations. That kind of determination and forward-thinking mindset is something I hope to embody in my own studies and career.
To me, being in STEM means staying curious, solving problems, and always learning. Grace Hopper’s legacy is a reminder that defying boundaries takes both technical skill and resilience. I hope that as a woman, I am able to contribute to the STEM community just like how she did.
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