Captain Grace M. Hopper: The Mother of COBOL (1981)

It's like humour: Charlie Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy, Lewis & Martin never made me laugh, but I have no doubt they were fresh, innovative and irresistible in their day.

When I saw my first computer graphics animation in 1966, a crude wireframe of an aircraft, my mind was blown. I was feverish with excitement. It's a shame we can never recapture that zeitgeist.

I realize this is fussy. It's fair to say Captain in an old, old article. I think the site requires no editorialization of headlines.

But much like the title President, is retained for life. I've got no problems referring to Admiral Hopper. I was very small when she passed, so all of my information is second hand at best. By all accounts she was an unstoppable force of nature. Purely out of respect for her drive and ability, the title really should be Rear Admiral Grace M. Hopper: The Mother of COBOL.

The nanosecond wire alone should be a compelling argument. Truly a hacker.

(also, the whole magazine is a strange window into the past. the cartoon on the page above is hilarious. providing a reading time for a resume is unthinkable today)

By Vicki Porter Adams

When Captain Grace M. Hopper put her pack of Lucky Strikes (they still make them) on the table as she prepared for an interview, the assembled journalists felt that this would be a different type of question-and-answer session. It was.

Captain Hopper, 74, inventor, mathematician, teacher and computer expert, is on active duty with the United States Navy. She is called "The Mother of COBOL."

After talking to Hopper, you understand why she contributed so much to the computer industry. She is never satisfied with the way things are; she is eternally curious — an American pioneer.

In 1943, armed with a PhD from Yale, teaching experience and work at the Applied Physics Lab at Harvard, she joined the Navy. She was appointed to the pilot group assigned to analyze the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC), the machine that was modified to become the first North American Air Defense computer.

- "" "By not adopting—or following—standards, the Federal government spends $450 million a year converting computer programs."

Hopper was then assigned to work on the Univac Mark I, to help "tame the monster" as she puts it. Recognizing that progress was slow because operating instructions had to be repeated for each run, Hopper used her abundant common sense to devise a solution to the problem. She prestored the steps most prone to human error in the computer. This was the birth of compilers.

Hopper, after working with computers for 40 years, thinks, "The computer industry today is about where the Model-T was when it was developed. When I was a child, Henry Ford came along and invented a car everyone could have—as long as they wanted it black. That's where we are today. The very beginning of mass use of the computer. We haven't even begun to exploit its potential."

Captain Hopper is one of the first members of the U.S. data-processing community to recognize the value of using computers in the areas of predicting weather patterns, managing energy resources, increasing agricultural output and generally contributing solutions to the many long-range problems Americans must solve.

Largest Industry

"Computers will be, if they aren't already, the largest industry in the country," declares Captain Hopper. The data-processing industry will replace automobiles and construction as the mainstay of the American economy."

- "" "The computer industry today is about where the Model-T was when it was developed."

When asked how expanding Japanese semiconductor production and Japanese activities in programming may affect American industry, she replied, "The American people have imagination and creativity. Nobody else possesses these traits as we do. I think it has something to do with the fact that we all came here from somewhere else. Many of our families were down and out. The American people have always had to think a little harder and do a little better to prove themselves. That's why we don't really have to worry about anyone else. Whatever we want to do, we can do.

"But let's not mismanage it," she continued. "Right now we're in the business of collecting information. No one has really analyzed the total flow of information. What is most important? Is it Joe's two hours of overtime, or is it a nuclear power plant that might blow up if we don't change a valve setting? We have not correctly addressed that.

"We haven't researched the value of information or the cost of incorrect information—or even which information gets priority. It is my experience that the senior squeaking wheel gets the top priority."

She offered an anecdote about the origin of the term "debug." "In 1945, while working in a World War I vintage non-air-conditioned building on a hot, humid summer day, the computer stopped. We searched for the problem and found a failing relay—one of the big signal relays. Inside, we found a moth that had been beaten to death. We pulled it out with tweezers and taped it to the log book. From then on, when the officer came in to ask if we were accomplishing anything, we told him we were 'debugging the computer."

Captain Hopper thinks standards have been neglected. "By not adopting — or following — standards, the Federal government spends $450 million a year converting computer programs. A real waste of money," she pointed out. "Of course, data-processing people won't obey formulas or follow standards anyway," she added.

Computer Future

Captain Hopper's strongest conviction about the future growth of the computer industry is her faith in the curiosity and imagination of the young and their acceptance of computers.

She admits that she may not consider age a factor in anything. When she was 40 and women were allowed to enlist in the regular Navy, they told her she was "too old." She says, "When someone tells you you're too old at 40, you get over the trauma. You never have to worry about age again." (Incidentally, the Navy called her back after she retired from Univac when she was over 60.)

She contends, "Kids know what's happening. They're up on the technology. Lots of bright youngsters aren't hampered by 'we've always done it this way; 'it won't work' or 'I've never heard of it."

She thinks the media contribute to the fears of people outside the industry. "What do we see in the newspapers?" she asks. "Computers will eliminate jobs. Computers will take over the world.

"Computers can't take over," she asserts. "We can always pull the plug!"

Finally, addressing the matter of the shortage of programmers and other computer people, Captain Hopper said, "Yes, there is a tremendous shortage, particularly in the area of system design. The schools and colleges aren't meeting the needs of the industry. The kids need hands-on time, and the teachers have to know how to operate and efficiently use computers. Apple is doing a good job of training teachers. Others must take up the effort "

Image: Grace M. Hopper: computer pioneer (Photo courtesy U.S. Navy)

October 5, 1981 - Infoworld, pg. 33

(OCR-ed for accessibility purposes)