Beatrice Worsley facts for kids

Beatrice Helen Worsley (born October 18, 1921 – died May 8, 1972) was a brilliant Canadian computer scientist. She was the first woman in Canada to become a computer scientist. Beatrice earned her Ph.D. degree from the University of Cambridge. Her advisors were famous scientists Alan Turing and Douglas Hartree. This was the very first Ph.D. ever given in what we now call computer science.

Beatrice Worsley achieved many "firsts" in the early days of computers. She wrote the first program to run on the EDSAC computer. She also helped create the first compiler for the Ferranti Mark 1 computer in Toronto. Beatrice wrote many important papers about computer science. She taught about computers and engineering at Queen's University and the University of Toronto. She worked in this field for over 20 years before she passed away at age 50.

Beatrice's Early Life and School

Beatrice was born in Mexico on October 18, 1921. Her parents were Joel and Beatrice Marie. For safety reasons, Beatrice and her brother Charles were homeschooled. They did not play much with other children.

In 1929, her family moved to Toronto, Canada. This was so Beatrice and Charles could get a better education. Beatrice went to Brown Public School and then to Bishop Strachan School.

At Bishop Strachan, Beatrice chose the harder courses to prepare for university. She was an amazing student! The headmaster said she was one of the best students the school ever had. She graduated in 1939 with top awards in math and science. She also had the highest overall grades.

What Did Beatrice Study in University?

Beatrice won a scholarship to Trinity College at the University of Toronto. She started studying there in September 1939. Her excellent grades helped her win another scholarship in science.

For her second year, she switched to a program called Mathematics and Physics. This program focused on how to use math and physics in real life. In her third year, she won another scholarship for her studies. She graduated in 1944 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. She earned the highest mark in every single class, every year!

Beatrice's Work During Wartime

Right after university, Beatrice joined the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service. This group was also known as the "Wrens." After her training, she worked at the Naval Research Establishment (NRE) in Halifax. She first studied how to protect harbors. Then she worked on degaussing (removing magnetism from ships) and guiding torpedoes.

When World War II ended, Beatrice was the only Wren at the NRE who chose to stay. In September 1945, she became a lieutenant. She started a new project about how ship hulls corrode (rust). She spent 150 days at sea over the next year. Many of these days were on a ship called HMCS Quinte. This was a record for Wrens! She worked in very tough conditions during the Canadian Atlantic winter. The crew respected her for doing what she called a "man's job." She officially left the service in August 1946.

Studying Computers at MIT

After leaving the Wrens, Beatrice went to MIT. She joined a one-year master's program in mathematics and physics. She took classes on topics like solid-state physics and feedback amplifiers. MIT was a world leader in these areas.

Her master's paper was about "A Mathematical Survey of Computing Devices." It also included an "Appendix on Error Analysis of Differential Analyzers." She wrote it with help from Henry Wallman. Her paper talked about almost every computing machine that existed at the time. This included early computers like the Harvard Mark I, ENIAC, and EDSAC. The appendix looked at different differential analyzer systems and where they might make mistakes. Her paper is still one of the most detailed reports on early computing.

Working at the Toronto Computation Centre

After finishing her master's paper, Beatrice returned to Canada. She told her family that computers were the future! But at that time, Canada didn't have a computer industry. So, she took a job with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). She worked in their aerodynamics department.

Meanwhile, the University of Toronto was planning to open a computing department. It would be a research center and also offer computer services to businesses. In September 1947, the NRC gave money to buy two IBM punch card calculators. They also hired two assistants. Beatrice heard about this and applied. She joined the new department in January 1948.

One of her first tasks was to help Atomic Energy of Canada (AECL) with their calculations. She worked with Calvin Gotlieb and J. Perham Stanley. In the summer of 1948, she built a differential analyzer using Meccano parts (a type of construction toy). This was similar to a machine built by other scientists in 1935.

Beatrice's Time at Cambridge University

After building the analyzer, Beatrice and Stanley went to the UK. They wanted to learn about the EDSAC computer. It was being built at Cambridge University. They arrived when the machine was almost finished. They helped get it ready for its first test run on May 6, 1949. The first program to run successfully on EDSAC was one Beatrice helped write. It calculated squares. She later put this program and others into one of the first papers about computers, called The E.D.S.A.C. Demonstration.

The next month, a meeting about computers was held at Cambridge. Beatrice presented a report on her program that found squares. She also showed a new program that found prime numbers. Her report included examples of the computer's output and how the code worked. This report was published and later included in a famous book. This made Beatrice well-known in the computer world.

Beatrice then started her PhD at Newnham College. She took classes on quantum physics and number theory. Most importantly, she studied numerical analysis with Douglas Hartree. She began writing her PhD paper with Hartree as her supervisor.

For reasons we don't know, Beatrice returned to Toronto. She continued her PhD work with a professor at the University of Toronto. In July 1951, she was hired again by the Computation Centre. Hartree approved her paper, and Beatrice received her doctorate in 1952.

Her paper, Serial Programming for Real and Idealized Digital Calculating Machines, is thought to be the first PhD paper ever written about modern computers. It talked about calculations on Turing machines and real computers like EDSAC. It also described ways to figure out which computer instructions were needed. It showed the most efficient way to do these tasks.

FERUT and Transcode: New Computers and Languages

In 1948, the Computing Centre wanted to build a copy of a computer from Bell Labs. They asked for money from the NRC. But the NRC wisely told them to build an electronic computer instead.

The university and NRC planned to build a powerful computer called UTEC. Construction started in 1951. But they had problems with the computer's memory system. It wasn't reliable until late that year.

AECL (Atomic Energy of Canada) was getting frustrated because they didn't have a working computer. They suggested buying a complete computer instead of building UTEC. They knew that Ferranti had built a Ferranti Mark 1 computer for a UK group. But that group no longer needed it. This computer was available for a good price.

The Ferranti Mark 1 computer was bought in early 1952. Beatrice named it FERUT. This stood for "Ferranti Electronic computer at the University of Toronto." By the summer, FERUT was working. It gave the University of Toronto one of the most powerful computers in the world!

In 1953, Beatrice and Patterson Hume started creating a new computer language for FERUT. They called it Transcode. It was similar to another language called Autocode. But Transcode was faster and easier to use. A big advantage was that it could change numbers from decimal (our normal numbers) to binary (computer numbers) and back. This made it easier for programmers.

Teaching at Queen's University

Even though Beatrice had impressive degrees and many achievements, she was not promoted quickly at the University of Toronto. It took until 1960 for her to become an assistant professor. She became an assistant professor of physics and computer science in 1964. She received much less recognition than other early computer scientists.

In 1965, Beatrice was offered a job at Queen's University. She helped start their new Computer Centre, which used an IBM 1620 computer. At Queen's, she spent most of her time teaching. In September 1971, after 20 years in the field, she took a break (a sabbatical) at the University of Waterloo. Sadly, on May 8, 1972, Beatrice Worsley had a fatal heart attack in Waterloo.

Awards and Recognition

In 2014, Beatrice Worsley was given a special award after her death. The Canadian Association of Computer Science gave her the Lifetime Achievement Award in Computer Science.

See also

In Spanish: Beatrice Worsley para niños