From: Kathryn Aegis (aegis@igc.apc.org)
Date: Mon Mar 10 1997 - 19:53:46 MST
By way of addendum to my earlier biography of Hypatia:
An article in today's paper indicates that, according to letters
written by students of Hypatia, she invented several scientific
instruments, including an astrolabe, a water distiller, and a
hydrometer.
Also, according to three recent books on women inventors, it seems
that the Countess of Lovelace (1812-1852) is more authoritatively being
credited with inventing the first binary computer programming language.
Because she wrote it for a computer invented by her husband Charles
Babbage, and because of the laws of that time, all of her work would
have been owned by her husband, and this led to some confusion as to
the extent of her role.
The National Women's History Project has set up a web site with links
to info about female technologists at http://www.whp.org
Sin,
Kathryn Aegis
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