About this item
Meet the women who programmed the first all-electronic computer and built the technological language kids today can't live without in this fascinating, nonfiction Level 3 Ready-to-Read, part of a new series of biographies about people "you should meet!"In 1946, six brilliant young women programmed the first all-electronic, programmable computer, the ENIAC, part of a secret World War II project. They learned to program without any programming languages or tools, and by the time they were finished, the ENIAC could run a complicated calculus equation in seconds. But when the ENIAC was presented to the press and public, the women were never introduced or given credit for their work. Learn all about what they did and how their invention still matters today in this story of six amazing young women everyone should meet! A special section at the back of the book includes extras on subjects like history and math, plus interesting trivia facts about how computers have changed over time.
About the Author
Laurie Calkhoven has always been fascinated by history, and especially by the ordinary people who got caught up in extraordinary moments in history. She likes the small moments and bizarre facts that mostly get left out by the serious history books -- like whether or not a broken egg kept the American Revolution on track, and how putting your hands in your pockets and jiggling change could lead to an arrest in Nazi-occupied France.While she was researching her biography of George Washington, she started to wondering about life during the Siege of Boston. Soon, a character named Daniel was whispering in her ear, telling her about his secret work for General George Washington, and she wrote the novel DANIEL AT THE SIEGE OF BOSTON, 1776. A biography of Harriet Tubman led to a second novel in her BOYS OF WARTIME series--WILL AT THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG, 1863. Her third historical novel, MICHAEL AT THE INVASION OF FRANCE, 1943 rounds out the series.When she's not writing historical books, Calkhoven is at work on nonfiction books like I GREW UP TO BE PRESIDENT and historical mysteries for American Girl. You can find her online at www.lauriecalkhoven.com
