A Grasshopper in Very Tall Grass: Revealing Little-Known Early Computer Programmer Klára Dán Von Neumann
Brought To Audiences in Partnership with Scientific American and PRX
SAN FRANCISCO, The Lost Women of Science Podcast Series announced today the launch of its second season, A Grasshopper in Very Tall Grass. The season will focus on the life and work of Klára Dán von Neumann, who played a crucial role in the development of computer programming as we know it today. The mission of Lost Women of Science is to tell the stories of remarkable female scientists who were not recognized for their achievements during their lifetimes.
The Lost Women of Science Podcast Series will continue its partnership with public media organization PRX and the award-winning Scientific American magazine. Lost Women of Science is underwritten by a grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, with additional funding from Schmidt Futures and the John Templeton Foundation.
Episodes will be released every Thursday. The show is available free across all major podcast listening platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, and Amazon Music.
On Tuesday, April 5 at 7 pm PST, the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California will present an in-depth discussion about Season 2 with the show’s host, Katie Hafner, Dr. Thomas Haigh and Dr. Maria Klawe. The event will be both in-person and virtual and is free to the public. For more information or to register for the event, please visit: computerhistory.org/events.
Katie Hafner, Host of Lost Women of Science said, “Klára Dán von Neumann is a truly lost woman of computing. She had only a high school education yet became an indispensable colleague to the most famous scientists of the 1940s. In telling Klári’s story, we explore the evolution of the ENIAC computer, the vital role women played in early programming, and the inextricable connection between computing and war.”
Dr. Maria Klawe, President of Harvey Mudd College and Chair of the Lost Women of Science Initiative Advisory Board said, “As a computer scientist who cares deeply about women in science, even I was unaware of this very rich and important story. The podcast’s rich storytelling and detailed research into what really happened in the early days of computing will deeply impact how we understand the seminal role that women played in creating a new science that changed the world.”
Dr. Thomas Haigh, a Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Comenius Visiting Professor at Siegen University in Siegen, Germany, is the lead author, with Mark Priestley and Crispin Rope, of ENIAC in Action: Making and Remaking the Modern Computer. He said, “Klára von Neumann wrote the first modern-style code ever run on any computer, but her contributions to history have been forgotten even as other female computer pioneers have been celebrated. I’m delighted that the Lost Women of Science team is finally giving her remarkable story the attention it deserves.”
About Lost Women of Science:
The Lost Women of Science Initiative is a 501(c)3 nonprofit with two overarching and interrelated missions: to tell the story of female scientists who made groundbreaking achievements in their fields, yet remain largely unknown to the general public, and to inspire girls and young women to pursue education and careers in STEM. As a full, mission-driven organization, the Lost Women of Science Initiative plans to digitize and archive its research, and to make all primary source material available to students, educators, and historians of science. To learn more, or to donate to this important work, please visit our website, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @lostwomenofsci
About the Computer History Museum
The Computer History Museum’s (CHM) mission is to decode technology—its computing past, digital present, and future impact on humanity. From the heart of Silicon Valley, we share insights gleaned from our research, our events, and our incomparable collection of computing artifacts and oral histories to convene, inform, and empower people to build a better world.
This article was shared with Prittle Prattle News as a Press Release by PRNewswire
