Marlyn Meltzer
{{Short description|Programmer for the ENIAC computer}}
{{Infobox person
| name =
| image = Marlyn_Meltzer.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Marlyn Meltzer
| birth_date = 1922
| birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2008|12|7|1922|04|12}}
| death_place = Yardley, Pennsylvania, US
| other_names =
| alma_mater = Temple University
| occupation = Computer Programmer, Mathematician
| years_active =
| employer = Moore School of Electrical Engineering, University of Pennsylvania
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| honours = [https://www.witi.com/halloffame/298369/ENIAC-Programmers-Kathleen-/ Women in Technology International Hall of Fame]
}}
File:Reprogramming ENIAC.png (crouching) and Marlyn Wescoff (standing) wiring the right side of the ENIAC with a new program.]]
Marlyn Wescoff Meltzer (1922 – December 7, 2008{{Cite web|title=Marlyn Meltzer - Engineering and Technology History Wiki|url=https://ethw.org/Marlyn_Meltzer|access-date=2020-06-27|website=ethw.org|date=4 February 2016}}) was an American mathematician and computer programmer, and one of the six original programmers of ENIAC, the first general-purpose electronic digital computer.
Early life
Meltzer was born Marlyn Wescoff in Philadelphia in 1922. She graduated from Temple University in 1942.
Career
Meltzer was hired by the Moore School of Engineering after graduating to perform weather calculations, mainly because she knew how to operate an adding machine; in 1943, she was hired to perform calculations for ballistics trajectories.IEEE Global Networl. [http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Marlyn_Meltzer Marlyn Meltzer]. Ret. March 2014 At the time, this was accomplished by using manual desktop mechanical calculators. In 1945, she was selected to become one of the 6 original programmers of Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer.
= ENIAC =
Meltzer, alongside Kathleen Antonelli, Jean Jennings Bartik, Frances Elizabeth Holberton, Frances Spence and Ruth Teitelbaum, were the original six programmers of ENIAC,{{Cite web |title=WITI Hall of Fame |url=http://www.witi.com/center/witimuseum/halloffame/298369/ENIAC-Programmers-Kathleen-McNulty,-Mauchly-Antonelli,-Jean-Jennings-Bartik,-Frances-Synder-Holber-Marlyn-Wescoff-Meltzer,-Frances-Bilas-Spence-and-Ruth-Lichterman-Teitelbaum/ |access-date=December 9, 2015 |website=Featured Profile}} a project that originally began in secret at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania in 1943.{{Cite journal |last1=Goldstine |first1=H. H. |last2=Goldstine |first2=Adele |date=1946 |title=The electronic numerical integrator and computer (ENIAC) |url=https://www.ams.org/mcom/1946-02-015/S0025-5718-1946-0018977-0/ |journal=Mathematics of Computation |language=en |volume=2 |issue=15 |pages=97–110 |doi=10.1090/S0025-5718-1946-0018977-0 |issn=0025-5718|doi-access=free |url-access=subscription }}
ENIAC was a huge machine full of black panels and switches, containing 17,468 vacuum tubes, 7200 crystal diodes, 1500 relays, {{gaps|70|000}} resistors, {{gaps|10|000}} capacitors and approximately {{gaps|5|000|000}} hand-soldered joints. It weighed more than 30 short tons, occupied 167m2 and consumed 150 kW of electricity. Its huge power requirement led to a rumor that the lights across Philadelphia would dim every time it was switched on.{{Cite web|url = http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2015/11/invisible-women-the-six-human-computers-behind-the-eniac/|title = Invisible Women: The Six Human Computers Behind The ENIAC|date = 10 November 2015|access-date = 9 December 2015|website = Life Hacker}}
ENIAC was unveiled to the public on February 14, 1946, making headlines across the country.{{Cite web|url=http://www.eniacprogrammers.org/overview.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081212074957/http://eniacprogrammers.org/overview.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-12-12 |title=Overview |access-date=December 9, 2015 |website=ENIAC Programmers Project }}
Although mentioned in Woman of the ENIAC at the time, little recognition was attributed to the women working on the computer, with attention focused on the male engineers who built the machine. She resigned from the team in 1947 to get married before ENIAC was relocated to the Aberdeen Proving Grounds.
In 1997, Meltzer was inducted into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame, along with the other original ENIAC programmers. This award was established in 1996 by WITI to "recognize, honor, and promote the outstanding contributions women make to the scientific and technological communities that improve and evolve our society".
= Volunteer work =
Meltzer enjoyed volunteering at Shir Ami Library and Sunday school story hour. She also delivered Meals on Wheels for more than 10 years for the Greenwood House in Ewing, NJ. She was the treasurer of the Trenton/Lawrenceville chapter of Hadassah and an active member of Women for Greenwood House.
During her last four years, she had knitted more than 500 chemotherapy hats for Susan B. Komen For the Cure, a non-profit organization in Philadelphia.
Death
Meltzer died on December 7, 2008, in Yardley, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States.
Legacy
{{Listen|type=speech|pos=right|filename=The ENIAC Programmers (As Told By U.S. Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith).ogg|title=The ENIAC Programmers (As Told By U.S. Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith)|description=}}In 1997 she was inducted into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame, along with the other original ENIAC programmers.
Her work on ENIAC and at the University of Pennsylvania was later recognized in the 2010 documentary film Top Secret Rosies: The Female "Computers" of WWII.
The ENIAC team is also the inspiration behind the award-winning 2013 documentary The Computers.{{Cite web|title=ENIAC Programmers Project - Documentary Info|url=http://eniacprogrammers.org/documentary-info/|website=ENIAC Programmers Project|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-24}} This documentary, created by Kathy Kleiman and the ENIAC Programmers Project, combines actual footage of the ENIAC team from the 1940s with interviews with the female team members as they reflect on their time working together on the ENIAC.{{cite web|title=The Computers Documentary|url=http://eniacprogrammers.org/documentary|publisher=The ENIAC Programmers Project|access-date=November 2, 2014}}{{cite web|title=History's Female Programmers Will No Longer Be Forgotten|date=6 September 2014|url=http://readwrite.com/2014/09/06/female-programmers-remembered-eniac-programmers|publisher=ReadWrite|access-date=November 2, 2014}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.witi.com/center/witimuseum/halloffame/298369/ENIAC-Programmers-Kathleen-McNulty,-Mauchly-Antonelli,-Jean-Jennings-Bartik,-Frances-Synder-Holber-Marlyn-Wescoff-Meltzer,-Frances-Bilas-Spence-and-Ruth-Lichterman-Teitelbaum/ ENIAC Programmers] at witi.com
- [http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/85.511940 The Women of ENIAC] at ieeecomputersociety.org
{{Timelines of computing}}
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Category:American women computer scientists
Category:American computer scientists
Category:People from Philadelphia
Category:20th-century American women
Category:American mathematicians
Category:21st-century American women