<h1>This woman is a computer pioneer?</h1> <dl class="storyBlogByline"><dt class="storyBlogBy"><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-57389728-10391709/this-woman-is-a-computer-pioneer/">http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-57389728-10391709/this-woman-is-a-computer-pioneer/</a></dt>

<dt class="storyBlogBy">By </dt><dd> <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8300-504803_162-10391709.html?contributor=10470701">60 Minutes Overtime Staff</a> </dd></dl><div id="socialToolBarTop" class="socialToolBar"><div id="accordion" class="accordion">

 <div style="display:block;padding-top:0px;border-top:medium none;padding-bottom:0px;border-bottom:medium none;overflow:hidden;height:0px;margin-top:0pt" class="accord pos3Content"> </div> <div style="display:block;padding-top:0px;border-top:medium none;padding-bottom:0px;border-bottom:medium none;overflow:hidden;height:0px;margin-top:0pt" class="accord pos4Content">

 <span class="tweetSpace">.</span>  </div> <div style="display:block;padding-top:0px;border-top:medium none;padding-bottom:0px;border-bottom:medium none;overflow:hidden;height:0px;margin-top:0pt" class="accord pos5Content">

 <div id="moreLinks"> <ul class="moreLinksList"><li><a href="http://del.icio.us/post?url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-57389728-10391709/this-woman-is-a-computer-pioneer/?tag=delicious&amp;title=This%20woman%20is%20a%20computer%20pioneer?&amp;notes=" title="Add to your del.icio.us account" class="linkIcon delicious" target="_blank">Del.icio.us</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-57389728-10391709/this-woman-is-a-computer-pioneer/?tag=facebook" title="Post to Facebook" class="linkIcon facebook" target="_blank">Facebook</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-57389728-10391709/this-woman-is-a-computer-pioneer/?tag=stumbleupon&amp;title=This%20woman%20is%20a%20computer%20pioneer?" title="Post to Stumbleupon" class="linkIcon stumble" target="_blank">Stumbleupon</a></li>

</ul> <ul class="moreLinksList"><li><a href="http://www.newsvine.com/_tools/seed&amp;save?u=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-57389728-10391709/this-woman-is-a-computer-pioneer/?tag=newsvine&amp;h=This%20woman%20is%20a%20computer%20pioneer?" title="Post to Newsvine" class="linkIcon newsvine" target="_blank">Newsvine</a></li>

<li><a href="http://bookmarks.yahoo.com/toolbar/savebm?opener=&amp;u=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-57389728-10391709/this-woman-is-a-computer-pioneer/?tag=yahoobook&amp;t=This%20woman%20is%20a%20computer%20pioneer?" title="Post to Yahoo Bookmarks" class="linkIcon ybookmarks" target="_blank">Yahoo bookmarks</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.mixx.com/submit?page_url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-57389728-10391709/this-woman-is-a-computer-pioneer/?tag=mixx" title="Add to Mixx" class="linkIcon mixx" target="_blank">Mixx</a></li>

</ul> <ul class="moreLinksList"><li><a href="http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&amp;url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-57389728-10391709/this-woman-is-a-computer-pioneer/?tag=digg&amp;title=This%20woman%20is%20a%20computer%20pioneer?&amp;bodytext=&amp;topic=news" title="Digg this story" class="linkIcon digg" target="_blank">Digg</a></li>

<li><a href="http://reddit.com/submit?url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-57389728-10391709/this-woman-is-a-computer-pioneer/?tag=reddit&amp;title=This%20woman%20is%20a%20computer%20pioneer?" title="Add to Reddit" class="linkIcon reddit" target="_blank">Reddit</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=add&amp;bkmk=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-57389728-10391709/this-woman-is-a-computer-pioneer/?tag=google&amp;title=This%20woman%20is%20a%20computer%20pioneer?" title="Post to Google Bookmarks" class="linkIcon google" target="_blank">Google Bookmarks</a></li>

</ul> <ul class="moreLinksList"><li><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/bit.ly/?path=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-57389728-10391709/this-woman-is-a-computer-pioneer/&amp;service=twitter&amp;head=Reading+%40cbsnews%3A+This%20woman%20is%20a%20computer%20pioneer?" title="Twitter this page" class="linkIcon twitter" target="_blank">Twitter</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-57389728-10391709/this-woman-is-a-computer-pioneer/?tag=linkedin&amp;title=This%20woman%20is%20a%20computer%20pioneer?&amp;summary=&amp;source=CBSNews.com" class="linkIcon linkedin" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a></li>

</ul> </div> </div> </div> </div>    <p>Believe it or not, the world of computers didn&#39;t begin with Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. </p>  <p>Back
 in 1983, Morley Safer sat down with 76-year-old U.S. Navy Captain Grace
 Hopper who, at the time, had the distinction of being the oldest woman 
in the Armed Forces. But that was far from the only reason she merited a
 60 Minutes profile. Way back in 1944, Hopper helped design the 
legendary Mark series of computers at Harvard University. (Take a look 
at the <a href="http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/markI/markI_intro.html">Mark 1 here</a>.) </p>  <p>Hopper
 is perhaps best known for figuring out the way to make computers 
&quot;talk.&quot; As Morley put it in his piece: &quot;She is more than just a superb 
mathematical talent; it was Grace Hopper who helped teach the machines a
 language, stopped them from speaking in undecipherable numbers, enabled
 them to speak in English or French or German or whatever language you 
choose.&quot; </p>  <p>And, if you&#39;ve ever used the expression &quot;bug&quot; 
to describe a computer malfunction or software problem, you&#39;ve got Ms. 
Hopper to thank as well. In 1947, something went haywire in the Mark II 
computer system. Upon closer inspection, a dead moth was discovered in 
the wiring and removed. From that point on, Hooper said, when anything 
went wrong with the computer, everyone said &quot;it has a bug in it.&quot; (To 
see the infamous moth in question, <a href="http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/h96000/h96566k.jpg">click here</a>.)</p>  <p>Not
 long after this piece first ran on 60 Minutes, Hopper was promoted to 
commodore, and when that post was merged with rear admiral in 1985, she 
became Admiral Hopper. She passed away on January 1, 1992 and was buried
 with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. </p>