Bobby Hersom facts for kids

Bobby Hersom was born in 1929 in Cheshire, England. She is a British mathematician and computer scientist. She is known for her important early work with computers. She worked at places like Elliott Brothers and Hatfield Polytechnic.

Early Life and Education

Bobby Hersom was born Roberta Lewis in Cheshire, England. She was the oldest of three children. In 1950, she earned a degree in mathematics from the University of Cambridge. The next year, in 1951, she earned a teaching degree. While at Cambridge, she was part of The Round, an English Country Dance Club.

In 1954, she married Ed Hersom. They met through their work.

Bobby Hersom had a son, Colin, who also studied mathematics at Cambridge. Her daughter became a farmer. After her first child was born, Bobby Hersom worked freelance. This allowed her to continue her work as a computer scientist.

Her husband, Ed, passed away in 2002.

Career in Computing

After getting her teaching degree, Bobby Hersom worked as a teacher for a short time. However, she soon realized she did not enjoy teaching.

In 1953, she started working in the Theory Division at Elliott Brothers in Borehamwood, UK. There, she wrote computer programs for a research computer called Nicholas. Some of the programs she created helped process radar data. Radar uses radio waves to detect objects. In 1954, she left this job to start her family.

After that, Bobby Hersom worked for Rothamsted Agricultural Research Station for 11 years. Later, she became a consultant for Hatfield Polytechnic. She worked there with her husband, and she stayed until she retired.