mhoyeApr 6
A picture of Margaret Hamilton, programmer for the Apollo space program, standing next to not one single microsoft error message or bluetooth problem.
Show threadMrAlanCooperApr 6

@mhoye

In 2017 Margaret Hamilton was inducted into the Computer History Museum's Hall of Fellows. On that occasion I was privileged to accompany her on a private, docent-guided tour of the Museum's public display.

She looked about the same as she does in these pictures from the 1960s, albeit a little grayer; a bright, diminutive grandma.

But she was very humble and human. At one point we rounded a corner into the Apollo section. Prominently in the front of the exhibit was a reproduction of your left-hand photo. Upon seeing it, Margaret stopped and exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! Is that me?"

partofamultipack1d ago
Show threadMrAlanCooper

@mhoye Aha! Pix or it didn't happen!

It turns out that my wife snapped a picture of that memorable moment. Margaret Hamilton was a very bright and gracious person.

If you look closely at the left end of the display rail in front of the exhibit you can see the famous photograph of Margaret standing beside her tower of printed code.

Apr 7 at 4:22pmWeb
Show threadMike Sax6d ago
@mralancooper Oh wow! 🙌🏽
Show threadRon Jeffries6d ago
@mralancooper
Such a great honor!
Show threadh0uz34d ago
@mralancooper @mhoye Never forget: She claimed the term "software engineering" and basically invented that profession in a way that it should be today! (In practice, we are often far off.)
Show threadVicomte Folmer af Helvede3d ago

@mralancooper

Love the alt-text 😃
I recently came across another post about those missions, mentioning one of the people portrayed in the "hidden figures" movie.
Do you happen to know if Margaret Hamilton would've worked together with any of those people?

Cc
@mhoye

Show threadMrAlanCooper3d ago

@folfdk I really know very little about the Apollo missions, but I just bought a book. It’s prolly out there…

And are you visually impaired or do you just read alt text anyway, like I do?

Show threadVicomte Folmer af Helvede3d ago

@mralancooper

Thanks for your reply! I just thought, since you were perhaps a bit involved with this museum as a guide, that you might know 😊

And yes, I'm just reading alt text because I'm curious what people put into it (if you want some great alt-text, I encourage you to look at @CiaraNi! ) and I try to be mindful about putting alt-text into my own, although I must admit my most recent posts about the Artemis II mission is lacking any descriptions.

(I post mostly in Danish just fyi)

Show threadMrAlanCooper3d ago

@folfdk @CiaraNi

I was not a guide on that tour, I was a guest just like Margaret. I became a Computer History Museum Fellow that evening also.

(My son and his family live in Aarhus.)

Show threadCiara2d ago
@mralancooper @folfdk Small world, small Fediverse 🙂
Show threadTor Lillqvist1d ago
@mralancooper @folfdk I often read alt texts even if I am not visually impaired. I often put additional information that was not in the toot text into the alt text myself, or even occasionally a joke, and I kinda hope/guess others do the same. Like here. (Chef's Kiss.)
Show threadKhleedril1d ago
@mralancooper @folfdk If you read XKCD, you learn to always read alt-text!
Show threadCiara2d ago
@folfdk @mralancooper @mhoye That is a great anecdote and photo. And a great Alt Text.