Ada Lovelace: The Invetor of Computer Software

A very small number of people in the world can boast that they are not only a pioneering mathematician and computer programmer but also a rocket scientist for NASA. Even fewer can do all of this as an African American woman in 20th century America. Yet, Annie Easley did just that.

Born to a single mother in Alabama, 1933, Easley had to overcome the social and institutionalised barriers that existed under Jim Crow to secure a place at university, and after that, a job as a human computer at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). Here, she was inspired to go against the grain yet again and went back to university full-time to study mathematics whilst working a full-time job. What’s more, unlike her male counterparts who had their university fees paid for by NACA, Easley also had to do this out of her own pocket!

Her brilliance and determination didn’t stop there, she went on to learn computer programming and coding. In particular, her work in this field developing software for a high-energy booster rocket laid the foundations for future space exploration. Easley and her counterparts utilised a mix of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to create a powerful rocket that was fundamental to launch not just exploratory spacecraft such as Surveyor 1 and Cassini but communication, military, and weather satellites. Overall, her work was vital to the success of the US space program.

Her achievements, however, are not just limited to science and modern technology. Alongside this, Easley took the initiative to help African Americans pass the literacy test needed to vote and volunteered as an Equal Employment Advisor to educate superiors about racial and gender discrimination in the workplace.

Easley’s outstanding work at NASA was fundamental to modern space flight and the discoveries that came with it. Her legacy lives on not only in these scientific achievements but in those that she continuously inspires today!