Marlyn Wescoff Meltzer (1922 – December 7, 2008) was an American mathematician and computer programmer, and one of the six original programmers of

ENIAC ENIAC (; Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was the first programmable, electronic, general-purpose digital computer, completed in 1945. There were other computers that had these features, but the ENIAC had all of them in one packa ...

, the first general-purpose electronic digital computer.

Early life

Meltzer was born Marlyn Wescoff in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

in 1922. She graduated from

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

in 1942.

Career

Meltzer was hired by the

Moore School of Engineering The Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania came into existence as a result of an endowment from Alfred Fitler Moore on June 4, 1923. It was granted to Penn's School of Electrical Engineering, located in the Towne ...

after graduating to perform weather calculations, mainly because she knew how to operate an adding machine; in 1943, she was hired to perform calculations for

ballistics Ballistics is the field of mechanics concerned with the launching, flight behaviour and impact effects of projectiles, especially ranged weapon munitions such as bullets, unguided bombs, rockets or the like; the science or art of designing and a ...

trajectories A trajectory or flight path is the path that an object with mass in motion follows through space as a function of time. In classical mechanics, a trajectory is defined by Hamiltonian mechanics via canonical coordinates; hence, a complete traj ...

.IEEE Global Networl
Marlyn Meltzer
Ret. March 2014 At the time, this was accomplished by using manual desktop

mechanical calculator A mechanical calculator, or calculating machine, is a mechanical device used to perform the basic operations of arithmetic automatically, or (historically) a simulation such as an analog computer or a slide rule. Most mechanical calculators wer ...

s. In 1945, she was selected to become one of the 6 original programmers of Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer.

ENIAC

Meltzer, alongside

Kathleen McNulty Kathleen Rita Antonelli ( McNulty; formerly Mauchly; 12 February 1921 – 20 April 2006), known as Kay McNulty, was an Irish-born American computer programmer and one of the six original programmers of the ENIAC, one of the first general-purp ...

, Mauchly Antonelli,

Jean Jennings Bartik Jean Bartik ( Betty Jean Jennings; December 27, 1924 – March 23, 2011) was one of the original six programmers for the ENIAC computer. Bartik studied mathematics in school then began work at the University of Pennsylvania, first manually ca ...

, Frances Elizabeth Holberton,

Frances Spence Frances V. Spence ( Bilas; March 2, 1922 – July 18, 2012) was one of the original programmers for the ENIAC (the first electronic digital computer). She is considered one of the first computer programmers in history. The other five ENIAC progr ...

and

Ruth Teitelbaum Ruth Teitelbaum ( Lichterman; February 1, 1924 – August 9, 1986) was one of the first computer programmers in the world. Teitelbaum was one of the original programmers for the ENIAC computer. The other five ENIAC programmers were Jean Bar ...

, were the original six programmers of ENIAC,a project that originally began in secret at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania in 1943. ENIAC was a huge machine full of black panels and switches, containing 17,468 vacuum tubes, 7200 crystal diodes, 1500 relays, 70,000 resistors, 10,000 capacitors and approximately 5,000,000 hand-soldered joints. It weighed more than 30 short tons, occupied 167m2 and consumed 150 kW of electricity. Its huge power requirement led to a rumor that the lights across Philadelphia would dim every time it was switched on. ENIAC was unveiled to the public on February 14, 1946, making headlines across the country. Although mentioned in ''Woman of the ENIAC'' at the time, little recognition was attributed to the women working on the computer, with attention focused on the male engineers who built the machine. She resigned from the team in 1947 to get married before ENIAC was relocated to the

Aberdeen Proving Grounds Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) (sometimes erroneously called Aberdeen Proving ''Grounds'') is a U.S. Army facility located adjacent to Aberdeen, Harford County, Maryland, United States. More than 7,500 civilians and 5,000 military personnel work at ...

. In 1997, Meltzer was inducted into the

Women in Technology International Women in Technology International (WITI) is an organization promoting the achievements of women in technology and extending support, opportunities, and inspiration. It was founded by Carolyn Leighton in 1989 as the International Network of Women in ...

Hall of Fame, along with the other original ENIAC programmers. This award was established in 1996 by WITI to "recognize, honor, and promote the outstanding contributions women make to the scientific and technological communities that improve and evolve our society".

Volunteer work

Meltzer enjoyed volunteering at Shir Ami Library and Sunday school story hour. She also delivered

Meals on Wheels Meals on Wheels is a programme that delivers meals to individuals at home who are unable to purchase or prepare their own meals. The name is often used generically to refer to home-delivered meals programmes, not all of which are actually named ...

for more than 10 years for the Greenwood House in

Ewing Ewing may refer to: People * Ewing (surname) * Ewing (given name) Places ;United States * Ewing Township, Boone County, Arkansas * Ewing, Illinois, a village * Ewing Township, Franklin County, Illinois * Ewing, Indiana, an unincorporated communi ...

, NJ. She was the treasurer of the Trenton/Lawrenceville chapter of Hadassah and an active member of Women for Greenwood House. During her last four years, she had knitted more than 500 chemotherapy hats for Susan B. Komen For the Cure, a non-profit organization in Philadelphia.

Death

Meltzer died on December 7, 2008 in Yardley, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States.

Legacy

In 1997 she was inducted into the

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

, along with the other original ENIAC programmers. Her work on ENIAC and at the University of Pennsylvania was later recognized in the 2010 documentary film '' Top Secret Rosies: The Female "Computers" of WWII''. The ENIAC team is also the inspiration behind the award-winning 2013 documentary ''The Computers''. This documentary, created by Kathy Kleiman and the ENIAC Programmers Project, combines actual footage of the ENIAC team from the 1940s with interviews with the female team members as they reflect on their time working together on the ENIAC.

References

External links

ENIAC Programmers
at witi.com
The Women of ENIAC
at ieeecomputersociety.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Meltzer, Marlyn 1922 births 2008 deaths American women computer scientists American computer scientists People from Philadelphia Human computers 20th-century American women American mathematicians 21st-century American women American computer programmers Temple University alumni