Adele Goldstine facts for kids

Adele Goldstine (born Adele Katz; December 21, 1920 – November 1964) was an American mathematician and computer programmer. She wrote the first instruction manual for the ENIAC, which was the first electronic digital computer. She also played a key role in changing ENIAC. At first, it needed to be rewired for every new task. Thanks to her work, it could later run programs from stored instructions.

Early Life and Learning

Adele Goldstine was born in New York City on December 21, 1920. Her parents were Jewish immigrants who spoke Yiddish. Her father, William Katz, came from Lithuania in 1902.

Adele went to Hunter College High School. Then she studied at Hunter College. After earning her first degree, she went to the University of Michigan. She got her Master's degree in mathematics when she was 22 years old.

Family Life

At the University of Michigan, Adele met Herman Goldstine. He was helping the military manage the building of the ENIAC computer. They got married in 1941.

After they married, Herman continued his work with ENIAC. Adele went to the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. They had two children, born in 1952 and 1959.

Working on the ENIAC Computer

At the Moore School, Adele taught mathematics to women who worked as "computers". These women manually calculated complex math problems. Their job was very important for the war effort. Women were seen as being able to do this work quickly and accurately. By 1943, most "computers" were women.

What was ENIAC?

The ENIAC was a huge, early electronic computer. It was built to help the military calculate the paths of flying objects, like cannonballs.

Programming the ENIAC

Adele wrote the "Operators Manual" for the ENIAC. This was after six women programmers learned to "program" the machine. In the early days, programming ENIAC meant physically plugging and unplugging many wires. This was called "setting-up" the machine.

In 1946, Adele was hired to help make a big change to ENIAC. She worked with others to create a "stored program" system. This meant the computer could store its instructions inside itself. Programmers no longer had to rewire the machine for every new task. Instead, they could enter the program as data. This made the ENIAC much easier and faster to use.

John von Neumann, a famous mathematician, helped choose the commands for this new system. ENIAC programmer Jean Bartik said Adele Goldstine was one of her best programming partners. They worked together on important programs for the ENIAC.

After the War

After World War II, Adele Goldstine kept working on computer programming. She worked with von Neumann at Los Alamos National Laboratory. There, she designed problems for the ENIAC to solve.

Her Later Years

Adele Goldstine was diagnosed with cancer in 1962. She passed away two years later in 1964, at the age of 43.

See Also

In Spanish: Adele Goldstine para niños