Hamilton made her debut as a "professional entertainer" on December 9, 1929, in a "program of 'heart rending songs'" in the Charles S. Brooks Theater at the Cleveland Play House. ", Hamilton later left MIT to start her own software company, but her name is still most recognized for her lunar landing accomplishments. [25], Her areas of expertise include: systems design and software development, enterprise and process modeling, development paradigm, formal systems modeling languages, system-oriented objects for systems modeling and development, automated life-cycle environments, methods for maximizing software reliability and reuse, domain analysis, correctness by built-in language properties, open-architecture techniques for robust systems, full life-cycle automation, quality assurance, seamless integration, error detection and recovery techniques, human-machine interface systems, operating systems, end-to-end testing techniques, and life-cycle management techniques. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998. What followed next were brief messages from Apollo 11 to Robledo de Chabela in Spain; and from Spain to Houston, where Margaret was; from Houston to Robledo; and from Robledo to Apollo 11. Snyder, Lawrence and Henry, Ray Laura, "Fluency7 with Information Technology", Pearson, M. Hamilton, S. Zeldin (1976) "Higher order softwareA methodology for defining software". [3], Hamilton made her screen debut in the MGM film Another Language (1933) starring Helen Hayes and Robert Montgomery. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. However, in By Your Leave (1934), she plays his housekeeper, and in Saratoga (1937), she has a colloquy with Morgan regarding a cosmetic product he invented (with side glances and eye rolls by Morgan as to its effect on her "beauty"). The man had reached the Moon. [11], In Boston, Hamilton initially intended to enroll in graduate study in abstract mathematics at Brandeis University. She was severely burned during the "Surrender Dorothy!" She lived in Manhattan for most of her adult life, and summered in a cottage on Cape Island, Southport, Maine. Corrections? In 2009, Margaret Hamilton and fellow MIT software engineers described what is was like to contribute to the Apollo missions 40 years after the famous Apollo 11 landing in the Moon's Sea of Tranquility in July 1969. SAGE was soon developed for military use in anti-aircraft air defense. Biography of Margaret Hamilton, American Computer Scientist, Biography of Elizabeth Barrett, British poet, Biography of Ursula von der Leyen, German politician, Biography of Isabel Zendal, Spanish nurse, Biography of Sheila Herrero, Spanish athlete, Biography of Genoveva Torres, Spanish religious. [47] In 1980, British-Israeli computer scientist David Harel published a proposal for a structured programming language derived from HOS from the viewpoint of and/or subgoals. Hamilton was born in Cleveland, Ohio and practiced her craft doing children's theater while she was a Junior League of Cleveland member. Coming up with solutions and new ideas was an adventure. Hamilton had thought long and hard about this. Hat, Coat and Glove. From my own perspective, the software experience itself (designing it, developing it, evolving it, watching it perform and learning from it for future systems) was at least as exciting as the events surrounding the mission. [22][16] Another part of her team designed and developed the systems software. "Deeply Integrated Guidance Navigation Unit (DI-GNU) Common Software Architecture Principles". She cofounded the company Higher Order Software in 1976 and established Hamilton Technologies 10 years later. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. According to Hamilton, this now-iconic image (at left, above) was taken at MIT in 1969 by a staff photographer for the Instrumentation Laboratory later named the Draper Laboratory and today an independent organization for use in promotion of the labs work on the Apollo project. Hamilton led the software engineering division at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Instrumentation Laboratory. What I do?!!! In March 1986, she founded Hamilton Technologies, Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A former schoolteacher, she worked as a character actress in films for seven years before she was offered the role that defined her public image. Margaret Heafield Hamilton is an American computer scientist, systems engineer, and business owner. Margaret Hamilton was born December 9, 1902 in Cleveland, Ohio, to Jennie (Adams) and Walter Hamilton. Hamilton and Morgan never share any scenes in Oz. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Margaret-Hamilton-American-computer-scientist, Space.com - Margaret H. Hamilton: Apollo Computer Programmer, Wired - Her Code Got Humans on the Moon - And Invented Software Itself, Margaret Hamilton - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Margaret Hamilton - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), National Aeronautics and Space Administration. In 2019, she was awarded the Intrepid Lifetime Achievement Award. )[citation needed]. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. In later years, Hamilton made frequent . In 2019, she was awarded The Washington Award. And it was at the age of 22 that she graduated from Earlham . We took our work seriously, many of us beginning this journey while still in our 20s. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. The company was developed around the Universal Language of Software Design Systems. She notably wrote software for a program to identify enemy aircraft. For this Laboratory, she developed codes for new programming routines. At MIT, Margaret Hamilton was on the staff of the Draper Laboratory, founded in 1932 by Dr. Charles Stark Draper. Her net worth has been growing significantly in 2021-2022. And there's always a funny reaction, like 'Ye gods, they wish they hadn't asked.' Mention the name Margaret Hamilton to a Millennial, and chances are they won't be able to pick her out of a line-up. Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". At 83 years old, Margaret Hamilton height In that role, she took the lead on the software used to govern the flight dynamics of the Apollo spacecraft, which were used for six landing missions between 1969 and 1972. Margaret Hamilton Biography, Facts & Life Story. Paul Boynton Meserve (13 June1931 - 20 May1938)( divorced)( 1 child). In The Paul Lynde Halloween Special (1976), she portrayed Lynde's housekeeper, reprising the Wicked Witch role, as well as introducing Lynde to the rock group Kiss. I said to myself, 'Oh, boy, The Wizard of Oz! Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science since 2015. It was a memorable day when one of the most respected hardware gurus explained to everyone in a meeting that he agreed with me that the process of building software should also be considered an engineering discipline, just like with hardware. Houston! ", /system/people/detail_images/320_Margaret_Hamilton.jpg, /system/people/list_images/320_Margaret_Hamilton_320.jpg. The pipe exploded on the third take of the scene. After she recuperated, she said, "I won't sue, because I know how this business works, and I would never work again. In a few seconds he had to decide whether to land on the moon despite the risk or abort the landing and return with the honey on his lips. DAAAE30-02-D-1020 and DAAB07-98-D-H502/0180, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ, 20032004. The Directors verdict reached Neil on the radio: GO, Go ahead, free. After only one crewed mission in Earth orbit Apollo 7 in early 1968 NASA elected to send Apollo 8's command module solo that December on an orbital mission to the moon, out of concerns that the Soviet Union would get there first. In recent years, a striking photo of Hamilton and her teams Apollo code has made the rounds on social media and in articles detailing her key contributions to Apollo 11's success. Anthony Oettinger,[53] Barry Boehm,[citation needed] and Hamilton have been credited with naming the discipline of "software engineering". For her work during this period, Hamilton has been credited with popularizing the concept of software engineering. Because software was a mystery, a black box, upper management gave us total freedom and trust. [81][14] The couple then moved to Boston, Massachusetts,[14] where they had a daughter, Lauren, born on November 10, 1959. And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com. And I asked him what part, and he said, 'The Witch,' and I said, 'The Witch?!' You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. "Every time the CPU approached overload, the software cleared out its entire queue of processes, restarted its functions; allowing only the highest priority ones to perform until the landing was completed," she said. Margaret Hamilton. [17], Hamilton's early experience as a teacher fueled a lifelong interest in educational issues. We had to find a way and we did. [14] On October 30, 1975, she guest-starred on the radio revival series CBS Radio Mystery Theater. As the alarms went off and priority displays replaced normal ones, the actual switchover to new programmes behind the screens was happening "a step slower" than it would today. When she was studying at Earlham College, she met James Hamilton. Looking back, we were the luckiest people in the world; there was no choice but to be pioneers. It was July 20, 1969. Margaret had already built her resume with several performances in film before she came to her most memorable and astronomically successful role, Almira Gulch / The Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz (1939). She served on the Beverly Hills Board of Education from 1948 to 1951 and was a Sunday school teacher during the 1950s. Throughout the 1970s, Hamilton lived in New York City's Gramercy Park neighborhood and appeared on local (and some national) public-service announcements for organizations promoting the welfare of pets. She later attended Hathaway Brown School in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and practiced acting doing children's theater while a Junior League of Cleveland member. Hamilton was the recipient of various honours, including NASAs Exceptional Space Act Award (2003). Miss Hamilton Sings 1840 Song at Play House", "Wicked Witch of the West not always a fright sight", "Wizard of Oz 'witch' loved her Maine island", "Actress Margaret Hamilton, the Wicked Witch of the West", Margaret Hamilton correspondence and ephemera, 1944-1979, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Margaret_Hamilton_(actress)&oldid=1138589927, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2022, Vague or ambiguous geographic scope from March 2014, Internet Broadway Database person ID same as Wikidata, Internet Off-Broadway Database person ID same as Wikidata, Turner Classic Movies person ID different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Epiisode: "An Eye for an Eye" (S 2:Ep 35), Episode: "Bilko Enters Politics" (S 2:Ep 20), This page was last edited on 10 February 2023, at 13:49. We had to find a way and we did. Her father, Thomas Storey, was the founder of the Stanford University School of Health. They married in the late 1950s, after she graduated in mathematics. The guidance and control systems would apply to both the lunar module (which would land on the moon) and the command module (which would orbit the moon while the lunar module was on the surface, then house the astronauts on their journey home.) [16][18] These made her code incredibly reliable because they helped programmers identify and fix anomalies before they became major problems.[26]. I guess for a minute they get the feeling they got when they watched the picture. For her work, she was honored with the Presidential Medal. Because software was a mystery, a black box, upper management gave us total freedom and trust. Credit: Courtesy MIT Museum Margaret Hamilton's Apollo Code A brief history of the famous 1969 photo of the software that sent humans to the Moon. On December 23, 1938, Hamilton suffered a second-degree burn on her face and a third-degree burn on her hand during a second take of her fiery exit from Munchkinland in which the trap door's drop was delayed to eliminate the brief glimpse of it seen in the final edit. [14] The SAGE Project was an extension of Project Whirlwind, started by MIT to create a computer system that could predict weather systems and track their movements using simulators. Your email address will not be published. [20][41] They created a product called USE.IT, based on the HOS methodology they developed at MIT. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Journey for Margaret. According to Wired's Karen Tegan Padir: "She, along with that other early programming pioneer, COBOL inventor Grace Hopper, also deserve tremendous credit for helping to open the door for more women to enter and succeed in STEM fields like software. I was the first one to get it to work. The picture made a terrible impression of some kind on them, sometimes a ghastly impression, but most of them got over it, I guess because when I talk like the Witch, and when I laugh, there is a hesitation and then they clap. It turned out that the astronaut checklist, which governed the actions the crew had to do before landing, had the crew set the rendezvous radar hardware switch in the wrong position. Hamilton has a diverse background, including an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Earlham College in Indiana, and postgraduate work in meteorology at MIT.