Grace Hopper

By Andrew Impey

Grace Hopper
(1906-1992)

Grace Murray Hopper, or ‘Amazing Grace’ as she is often referred to, was one of the pioneers in the development of the electronic computer. Her work spanned programming, software development, compiler verification and data processing, and where it not for her initial vision for the commercial potential of computers, you might not be reading this now in the way that you are.

Having graduated with a degree in mathematics and physics, she went on to study at Yale University for her masters. Not content with two degrees, she thought she’d go a stage further and gained a doctorate in mathematics – a prestigious achievement for a young woman of the time.

In 1943, Hopper joined the US Naval Core and was immediately assigned to work on the Mark I Calculator – considered by many to be the first universal calculator.

The majority of her career was spent either in industry or in academia but she is probably best known for her breakthrough in the development of sophisticated compilers. Using relatively primitive programming techniques she was able to convert written text in a programming language into machine language, or ‘code’.

Hopper was adamant that that an entire programming language could be developed using English words. Her suggestion was received by many with scepticism and with derision by others, but that didn’t sway her from forging ahead with her theories. Sure enough, three years on and she achieved precisely what she said she’d do and in 1952 she went on to publish her first paper on compilers. The computer language that she invented, FLOW-MATIC, acted as a template for a whole generation of computing languages, the most important of which is probably COBOL.

Rear Admiral Dr. Grace Murray Hopper died in 1992 following a long and very distinguished career. In addition to her computing legacy and the many students that she nurtured through university, she is also famous for probably being the only mathematician to have a warship named after her.

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