As an adult, she worked on NASA's Apollo program, creating computer programs to guide spacecraft to and from the moon. In 1976, Hamilton co-founded with Saydean Zeldin a company called Higher Order Software (HOS)[40] to further develop ideas about error prevention and fault tolerance emerging from their experience at MIT working on the Apollo program. and he said, 'What else? We had to find a way and we did. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. [33] The asynchronous executive designed by J. Halcombe Laning[34][30][35] was used by Hamilton's team to develop asynchronous flight software: Because of the flight software's system-software's error detection and recovery techniques that included its system-wide "kill and recompute" from a "safe place" restart approach to its snapshot and rollback techniques, the Display Interface Routines (AKA the priority displays) together with its man-in-the-loop capabilities were able to be created in order to have the capability to interrupt the astronauts' normal mission displays with priority displays of critical alarms in case of an emergency. Snyder, Lawrence and Henry, Ray Laura, "Fluency7 with Information Technology", Pearson, M. Hamilton, S. Zeldin (1976) "Higher order softwareA methodology for defining software". The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". She was director of the Software Engineering Division of the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, which developed on-board flight software for NASA 's Apollo program. In 2019, she was awarded The Washington Award. [4] They divorced in 1967 and Margaret married Dan Lickly two years later.[80][82]. Having started on the stage in the early 1930s, she began to work extensively in the theater after leaving Los Angeles. Though only in her early '30s, the gloriously unpretty Hamilton subsequently . Byla editelkou oddlen softwarovho inenrstv v MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, kter vyvjela letov software pro Program Apollo.V roce 1986 zaloila spolenost Hamilton Technologies, kter sdl ve mst Cambridge ve stt Massachusetts. [3] She also wrote software for a satellite tracking project at the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories. By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. 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. Margaret Hamilton (publisher) - Wikipedia Hamilton was a regular parishioner of the Presbyterian church. After she recuperated, she said, "I won't sue, because I know how this business works, and I would never work again. Omissions? document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Copyright 2018-2023, All Rights Reserved Super Stars Bio. The content of the programs was printed on continuous paper and stored in large folders. And what had happened was it was tricky programming, and the person who wrote it took delight in the fact that all of his comments were in Greek and Latin. We took our work seriously, many of us beginning this journey while still in our 20s. Margaret Hamilton was born on August 17, 1936. Contrary to her character, one of the top villains in movie . A former schoolteacher, she worked as a character actor in films for seven years before she was offered the role that defined her public image. In one of the critical moments of the Apollo 11 mission, the Apollo Guidance Computer, together with the on-board flight software, averted an abort of the landing on the Moon. Biography:Margaret Hamilton (software engineer) - HandWiki Margaret Hamilton Biography | Fandango However, once there, she preferred to accept work at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), as a software developer. She appeared in The Phil Silvers Show episode S2E20 Bilko Enters Politics (05 February 1957). 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). And I asked him what part, and he said, 'The Witch,' and I said, 'The Witch?!' Searching to find out more about Margaret Hamilton? NY 10036. What I do?!!! Margaret Hamilton Storey - Wikipedia We took our work seriously, many of us beginning this journey while still in our 20s. ", Hamilton later left MIT to start her own software company, but her name is still most recognized for her lunar landing accomplishments. Zeitlin, Arnold. Hamilton had prepared for just this situation years before: There was one other failsafe that Hamilton likes to remember. She soon transferred, however, to Earlham College in Indiana where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in mathematics, with a minor in philosophy. She subsequently developed Alzheimer's disease and died in her sleep following a heart attack on May 16, 1985 in Salisbury, Connecticut at the age of 82. 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. View popular celebrities life details, birth signs and real ages. Thompson, Arthur A.; Strickland, A. J., (1996), "Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases", Last edited on 26 February 2023, at 16:40, Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories, "001: A Full Life Cycle Systems Engineering and Software Development Environment", Universal Systems Language for Preventative Systems Engineering, A Formal Universal Systems Semantics for SysML, Universal Systems Language: Lessons Learned from Apollo, "President Obama Names Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom", "Former Earlham Student Had Role in Moon Flight", "2009 Outstanding Alumni and Distinguished Service Awards", "The Woman Who Taught Me Margaret Hamilton MAKERS Moment", "Margaret Hamilton: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Took Us to the Moon", "The statistical prediction of solutions of dynamic equations", "AGC Conference 1: Margaret Hamilton's introduction", "Scene at MIT: Margaret Hamilton's Apollo code", "NASA Engineers and Scientists-Transforming Dreams Into Reality", The History of Apollo On-board Guidance, Navigation, and Control, Keyboard and Display Program and Operation, "Moon landing memories:'Apollo 11 changed civilisation and I had a part in it', "Tales from the Lunar Module Guidance Computer", "Computer Got Loaded, letter to the editor of Datamation", Higher Order Software Evaluation and Critique, "Federal User Offers Free CAD/CAM Software", "And/Or Programs: A New Approach to Structured Programming", "Overview of Hamilton Technologies, Inc. (HTI) 001", "ICSE 2018 Plenary Sessions Margaret Hamilton", "What to Know About the Scientist who Invented the Term "Software Engineering", "NASA Engineers and Scientists Transforming Dreams Into Reality", "Margaret Hamilton: 2017 Fellow Biography", "Margaret Hamilton, the Engineer Who Took the Apollo to the Moon", "Her code got humans on the moon and invented software itself", "Software and a Woman at the Heart of Lunar Triumph", "A moonlit tribute to a moon landing icon", "Honour for software writer on Apollo moon mission", "White House honors two of tech's female pioneers", "Margaret Hamilton Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom", "The 2017 Fellow Award Acceptance Speech", "Lego's 'Women of NASA' toy set is finally on sale and it's already Amazon's best-selling toy", "Investiture of scientist Margaret Hamilton as an honorary doctor of the UPC", "Margaret Hamilton Accepts 2019 Washington Award Nomination", "Bard College - 2019 Honorary Degree Recipients", "Margaret Hamilton's sister shares her memories as Seattle's seniors celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing", "James Cox Hamilton, at 77; lawyer was quiet warrior for First Amendment", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Margaret_Hamilton_(software_engineer)&oldid=1141753509. [15], Hamilton remained a lifelong friend of The Wizard of Oz castmate Ray Bolger (the scarecrow). She led a team that was tasked with developing the software for the guidance and control systems of the in-flight command and lunar modules of the Apollo missions. A brief history of the famous 1969 photo of the software that sent humans to the Moon. Even adolescents. Hamilton never remarried. [17], It was her efforts on this project that made her a candidate for the position at NASA as the lead developer for Apollo flight software. Coming up with solutions and new ideas was an adventure. Her other mid-1970s stage productions, as the producer, were The Three Sisters and House Party.[where? By Maia Weinstock | MIT News Office [10] She says her poet father and headmaster grandfather inspired her to include a minor in philosophy in her studies. She studied mathematics at the University of Michigan in the 1950s and later earned a BA in mathematics with a minor in philosophy from Earlham College in 1958. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". They're clapping at hearing the sound again.[11]. She was born on August 17, 1936, which makes Margaret Hamilton age be 82 years old as of now. Profiled in "American Classic Screen Interviews" (Scarecrow Press). MIT's instrumentation lab received the contract for the Apollo guidance and control systems on Aug. 9, 1961, when the United States had accomplished only two spaceflights both with just one crewmember on board, and both in suborbital space. UConnToday, 23 April 2013. Social Media Lead: In 1973, Hamilton produced the stage production of An Evening with the Bourgeoisie. She went on to appear in These Three (1936), Saratoga, You Only Live Once, When's Your Birthday?, Nothing Sacred (all 1937), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938), My Little Chickadee (with W. C. Fields, 1940), and The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (with Harold Lloyd, 1947). Margaret Hamilton The Movie Database (TMDB) For her work during this period, Hamilton has been credited with popularizing the concept of software engineering. In 2019, she was awarded the Intrepid Lifetime Achievement Award. [2], Margaret Elaine Heafield was born August 17, 1936, in Paoli, Indiana,[3] to Kenneth Heafield and Ruth Esther Heafield (ne Partington). She played Morticia Addams' mother, Hester Frump, in three episodes of The Addams Family. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. The solution came from a young Margaret who assured the Mission Director that she could safely ignore the two error messages. She was contributing writer for Space.com (opens in new tab) for 10 years before joining full-time, freelancing since 2012. She coined the term software engineer because she felt that the work she and her team were doing was just as important and just as much engineering as the other work on the Apollo spacecraft. According to MIT, this was the first air defense system for the country and helped to push forward digital computing in the 1950s and 1960s. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this. For ABC's short-lived radio anthology Theatre-Five, she played a manipulative ailing Aunt Lettie to Joan Lorring as the unhappy niece Maude in "Noose of Pearls". Hat, Coat and Glove. DAAAE30-02-D-1020 and DAAB07-98-D-H502/0180, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ, 20032004. is 5'(1.52m) . American software engineer and businesswoman, American computer programmer, businessman, and philanthropist. [42][43][44] It was successfully used in numerous government programs[45][46] including a project to formalize and implement C-IDEF, an automated version of IDEF, a modeling language developed by the U.S. Air Force in the Integrated Computer-Aided Manufacturing (ICAM) project. 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. "It quickly became clear that the software was not only informing everyone that there was a hardware-related problem, but that the software was compensating for it. [13] Hamilton continued acting regularly until 1982; her last roles were two guest appearances as veteran journalist Thea Taft (in 1979 and 1982) on Lou Grant. A Slight Case of Murder. It meant that if Aldrin, say, hit a button on the priority display too quickly, he might still get a "normal" response. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. She spent 11 days in hospital and her legs were permanently scarred. Her name was clearly visible when the entire Apollo 11 source code was released on GitHub in 2016; according to MIT, the first full line of the software read, "SUBMITTED: MARGARET H. HAMILTON DATE: 28 MAR 69 / M.H.HAMILTON, COLOSSUS PROGRAMMING LEADER / APOLLO GUIDANCE AND NAVIGATION.". Looking back, we were the luckiest people in the world; there was no choice but to be pioneers. Hamilton, now an independent computer scientist, described for MIT News in 2009 her contributions to the Apollo software which last month was added in its entirety to the code-sharing site GitHub: 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. The on-board flight software captured these alarms with the "never supposed to happen displays" interrupting the astronauts with priority alarm displays. When she reprised her role as the Wicked Witch in a 1976 episode of Sesame Street, "the show's producers were flooded with letters from parents saying it was too frightening for children. Computer scientist Margaret Hamilton poses for a series of photos with the Apollo guidance software she and her team developed at the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory. Margaret Heafield Hamilton is an American computer scientist, systems engineer, and business owner. For her work, she was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016. By Maia Weinstock | MIT News Office NASA was so impressed with the software used in Apollo that the basis of it was adapted for Skylab (the first U.S. space station), the space shuttle (which ran more than 100 successful missions in Earth orbit and two fatal failures between 1981 and 2011) and the first digital fly-by-wire systems in aircraft. Her Gramercy Park neighbor Sybil Daneman reported that Hamilton loved children but they were often afraid to meet her because of her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz. Houston! Although Margaret planned to study abstract mathematics at Brandeis University, she accepted a job at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) while her husband attended Harvard Law School. Barack Obama presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016. Paul Boynton Meserve (13 June1931 - 20 May1938)( divorced)( 1 child). 1967) {Ex-Husband}, Your email address will not be published. Later in life, she would comment on the role of the witch in a light-hearted fashion. She did a stint as a What's My Line? Space is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Margaret Hamilton | Science Mission Directorate - NASA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Margaret Hamilton (December 9, 1902 - May 16, 1985) was an American film actress known for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. mystery guest on the popular Sunday night CBS-TV program. When she was studying at Earlham College, she met James Hamilton. Margaret H. Hamilton: Apollo Computer Programmer | Space As Neil Armstrong was already preparing to bring the ship down, the computer started displaying two errors: error 1201 and error 1202. Margaret Hamilton, Software Engineer Who Landed NASA's - Medium [38] Paul Curto, senior technologist who nominated Hamilton for a NASA Space Act Award, called Hamilton's work "the foundation for ultra-reliable software design".[23]. Discover Margaret Hamilton's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Phil Davis On April 28, 2017, she received the Computer History Museum Fellow Award, which honors exceptional men and women whose computing ideas have changed the world. Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. 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. In the episode, entitled "Triptych for a Witch," Hamilton played the title role. Her net worth has been growing significantly in 2021-2022. She later attended Hathaway Brown School in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and practiced acting doing children's theater while a Junior League of Cleveland member. skywriting sequence at the Emerald City. A few months after filming Oz, she appeared in Babes in Arms (1939) as Jeff Steele's aunt, Martha, a society do-gooder who made it her goal to send the gang of child actors, led by Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, to a work farm. "From 'Kiddie Lit' to Children's Literature: The Biography of Francelia Butler." [37] Jack Garman, a NASA computer engineer in mission control, recognized the meaning of the errors that were presented to the astronauts by the priority displays and shouted, "Go, go!" They liked to kid me about my radical ideas. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Hamilton said: What they used to do when you came into this organization as a beginner, was to assign you this program which nobody was able to ever figure out or get to run. (196566; Hamilton had been offered the role of Grandmama, but turned it down. In 1939, Hamilton played the role of the Wicked Witch of the West, opposite Judy Garland's Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz, creating not only her most famous role, but also one of the screen's most memorable villains. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller? [66], She met her first husband, James Cox Hamilton,[80] in the mid-1950s while attending college. Hamilton has published more than 130 papers, proceedings, and reports, about sixty projects, and six major programs. Margaret Hamilton (* 17. srpna 1936 Paoli) je americk softwarov inenrka a podnikatelka. With the error addressed, the lunar landings for Apollos 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17 were made possible. Margaret Hamilton Biography, Celebrity Facts and Awards - TV Guide Between 1969 and 1972, the Apollo program carried out 22 missions: 19 with total success, 2 with partial success and 1 with failure. In 2017, she was one of a handful of Nasa women to be immortalised as a Lego figurine .On the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing, Hamilton, 82, looks back on her trailblazing work in. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. [22][16] Another part of her team designed and developed the systems software. At the time, computer science and software engineering were not yet established disciplines; instead, programmers learned on the job with hands-on experience. Anthony Oettinger,[53] Barry Boehm,[citation needed] and Hamilton have been credited with naming the discipline of "software engineering". She later attended Hathaway Brown School in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and practiced acting doing children's theater while a Junior League of Cleveland member. Journey for Margaret. Margaret Hamilton, the actress whose role as the cackling Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz unnerved generations of children, died yesterday, apparently of a heart attack, at a nursing home in Salisbury, Connecticut. Design & Development: Hamilton led the software engineering division at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Instrumentation Laboratory. It was intended to guide the spacecraft once they had achieved Earth orbit. She notably wrote software for a program to identify enemy aircraft. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. August 17, 2016. They married in the late 1950s, after she graduated in mathematics. We had to find a way and we did. Margaret Hamiltons income source is mostly from being a successful Actress. She is one of the people credited with coining the term "software engineering". But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Hamilton also appears as an unidentified flying witch during the tornado scene, which may have been the Wicked Witch of the West or her sister, the Wicked Witch of the East. Her family later moved to Michigan and Hamilton attended the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, for a time. Looking back, we were the luckiest people in the world; there was no choice but to be pioneers.. Margaret Hamilton, ne Margaret Heafield, (born August 17, 1936, Paoli, Indiana, U.S.), American computer scientist who was one of the first computer software programmers; she created the term software engineer to describe her work. She served on the Beverly Hills Board of Education from 1948 to 1951 and was a Sunday school teacher during the 1950s. [36], When Hamilton started using the term "software engineering" during the early Apollo missions,[57] software development was not taken seriously compared to other engineering,[58] nor was it regarded as a science. In the early 1960s Hamilton joined MITs Lincoln Laboratory, where she was involved in the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) project, the first U.S. air defense system. On August 17, 1936, Margaret Hamilton (ne Heafield) was born to Kenneth Heafield and Ruth Esther Heafield in Paoli, Indiana. Devising, writing, testing, and testing these routines was quite commendable. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". In the 1940s and 1950s, Hamilton had a long-running role on the radio series Ethel and Albert (or The Couple Next Door) in which she played the lovable, scattered Aunt Eva (name later changed to Aunt Effie). Margaret Hamilton was born in 1936 in the United States. Dedication and commitment were a given. Hamilton and Ray Bolger were cast members in the 1966 fantasy film The Daydreamer, a collection of stories by Hans Christian Andersen. She loved and doted upon children all her life. Hamilton has a diverse background, including an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Earlham College in Indiana, and postgraduate work in meteorology at MIT. 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. ", /system/people/detail_images/320_Margaret_Hamilton.jpg, /system/people/list_images/320_Margaret_Hamilton_320.jpg. Half a century ago, MIT played a critical role in the development of the flight software for NASAs Apollo program, which landed humans on the Moon for the first time in 1969. I will return to work on one condition no more fireworks!" On weekends, she took her daughter Lauren to the lab to spend time with her, while she worked writing the computer routines that would go on the Apollo command module computer. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The original caption, she says, reads: Here, Margaret is shown standing beside listings of the software developed by her and the team she was in charge of, the LM [lunar module] and CM [command module] on-board flight software team.. ", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. After graduation she married her first husband, James Cox Hamilton, and . Qualification: BA in Mathematics with a Minor in Philosophy, College: Earlham College, University of Michigan, Profession: Computer Scientist, Systems Engineer and Business Owner, Known For: Director of the Software Engineering Division of the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, which developed On-board Flight Software for NASAs Apollo Space Program, James Cox Hamilton; (m. 1958; div. "Hamilton contributed to concepts of asynchronous software, priority scheduling and priority displays, and human-in-the-loop decision capability, which set the foundation for modern, ultra-reliable software design and engineering," the citation for her medal read. [7] Studio executives cut some of Hamilton's more frightening scenes, worrying they would frighten children too much. This overloaded the central processing unit during the landing, but fortunately, the software recovered in the heated moments before Apollo 11 touched down. 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. But a software incident almost derailed the landing, as Hamilton recalled in a 2009 interview with MIT. Looking back, we were the luckiest people in the world; there was no choice but to be pioneers.. Hamilton was initially hired as a programmer for this process but moved on into systems design. Margaret Hamilton Full Biography | Broadway World [12] She developed software for predicting weather, programming on the LGP-30 and the PDP-1 computers at Marvin Minsky's Project MAC. ..and your little dog, too!" The woman behind of cinema's most iconic villains, Cleveland-born Margaret . Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 1958. Margaret Hamilton - Trakt Click here if you want to see this biography in Spanish translation. Margaret Hamilton Career Profession: Computer Scientist, Systems Engineer and Business Owner Known For: Director of the "Software Engineering Division" of the "MIT Instrumentation Laboratory", which developed "On-board Flight Software for NASA's Apollo Space Program Debut: Film debut: These Three (1936) Movie poster Net Worth: $12 Million Approx five.[28]. Her crisp voice with rapid but clear enunciation was another trademark. Moore Boeck. [20][41] They created a product called USE.IT, based on the HOS methodology they developed at MIT. Credit: Deansfa Marriage and family of Margaret Hamilton For other people named Margaret Hamilton, see. [10] She also made personal appearances, and Hamilton described the children's usual reaction to her portrayal of the Witch: Almost always they want me to laugh like the Witch. What are the characteristics of the Solar System? Even with her extensive film career, Hamilton took roles in whatever medium she could get if she was free, making her soap opera debut as the nasty Mrs. Sayre on Valiant Lady, who schemed to prevent her daughter from marrying the heroine's son. Her "priority display" innovation had created a knock-on risk that astronaut and computer would slip out of synch just when it mattered most. A brief history of the famous 1969 photo of the software that sent humans to the Moon. [3], Hamilton made her screen debut in the MGM film Another Language (1933) starring Helen Hayes and Robert Montgomery. Margaret Elaine Hamilton (born Heafield on August 17, 1936) is an American computer scientist, systems engineer, and business owner. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. Hamilton costarred opposite Buster Keaton and Richard Cromwell in a 1940s spoof of the long-running local melodrama The Drunkard, titled The Villain Still Pursued Her. 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. The pipe exploded on the third take of the scene. She is from USA. As she grew, she quickly developed a passion for mathematics and decided to work in this domain. It was her code that enabled the human race to travel to the moon and back.