Posts Tagged ‘Josh Hauck.’
What Happened to the Women Computers?
I’ve spoken about the Dudley Observatory’s corps of women computers several times now. Every time, someone has come up to me afterwards to mention that, back in their day, there still were departments of women working low level mathematical jobs. Without giving away anyone’s age, I can say this runs up until the seventies. This…
Read MoreRecovering the History of Women Computers
As an archivist, I’m not used to covering topical issues. But the history of women computers in the field of science is suddenly getting a lot of attention. The latest is the film “Hidden Figures,” which follows four African American women and their careers as mathematicians in Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory’s computer pool. It’s based on…
Read MoreMaking New Mirrors
This doesn’t look like much, but it was the start of something that was going to revolutionize the field of astronomy. This is a disk of silicon dioxide, also known as silica. Since it is made from very clean quartz sand, it is also known as “fused quartz”. You can think of silica as being…
Read MoreGoulds all the way back
There’s one advantage to inheriting a library; you don’t just get the books, you also get the bookmarks. This bit of paper was found in one of the books used by Benjamin Gould. On one side are some calculations. On this side is a rough family tree. Like any good Boston pure-blood, Gould was very interested…
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