Title
Hamilton, Margaret oral history
Catalog Number
102738244
Type
Moving image
Description
In this oral history, Margaret Hamilton describes her life and career in computing. She begins with a discussion of her family background and youth, including family influences, job experiences, and the development of her interest in mathematics at Earlham College. She reviews her first impressions of computing when working as an actuarial trainee. Her first work in programming with MIT professor Edward Lorenz follows, as does details of her subsequent work at Project MAC and the Lincoln Laboratory on SAGE. She reviews her work on the software for the Apollo Guidance Computer in detail, including her work on errors, alarms, software engineering, and her memorable experiences with the Apollo 8 and Apollo 11 missions. Afterward, she reviews her work on errors leading to formal methods for avoiding them, and for control theory more broadly, developing into the Universal Systems Language. She further details the support of this work, and her experiences in creating two companies to pursue it. The interview concludes with reflections on cultural issues in computing, and more broadly.
Date
2017-04-13
Participants
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Brock, David C., Interviewer
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Hamilton, Margaret H., Interviewee
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Publisher
Computer History Museum
Place of Publication
Boston, MA
Duration
03:02:59
Format
MOV
Category
Oral history
Collection Title
CHM Oral History Collection
Credit
Computer History Museum
