Rosemary Candlin facts for kids

Rosemary Candlin was born Rosemary Shaw in 1927. She is a talented scientist who worked as a crystallographer and a computer scientist. She joined the University of Edinburgh's Computer Science Department soon after it started. For a while, she was the only woman teacher there. She worked at the university from 1968 to 1995. Rosemary helped create the courses for students in the early years. She became very interested in something called parallel programming. Later, she went to work for CERN, which is a big science organization in Europe.

Rosemary Candlin's Career

Rosemary Candlin first studied physics at the University of Cambridge. After that, she earned her PhD there. Her advanced degree was in crystallography. This is the study of how atoms are arranged in solid materials.

Early Work in Crystallography

Rosemary had several jobs where she used her skills in crystallography. She worked at the Natural History Museum, London. She also worked at Princeton University in the United States. Later, she returned to the University of Cambridge. There, she was a research assistant for another scientist named Helen Megaw.

Moving to Computer Science

Rosemary then moved to the University of Edinburgh. She kept working in crystallography for a while. She used a special computer called an Atlas computer. This computer was far away, but she could connect to it using a phone line.

Soon, she took a new job at the university. She joined the Computer Science Department. This department had just been started by Professor Sidney Michaelson. He wanted Rosemary to teach new students how to program computers. At first, she was the only permanent woman teacher in the department.

Rosemary later taught more advanced students. She designed courses on different types of programming. One type was called real-time programming. This is used for systems that need to respond very quickly. She also taught about parallel programming. This became her special area of study. Parallel programming involves making computers do many tasks at the same time.

Working at CERN

Rosemary left the University of Edinburgh in 1995. After that, she started working for CERN. CERN is the European Organization for Nuclear Research. It is one of the world's largest and most respected centers for scientific research. At CERN, Rosemary worked on computer software for physics experiments. This included software for the ATLAS experiment. The ATLAS experiment is a huge project that studies tiny particles.

Rosemary Candlin's Personal Life

Rosemary Candlin was born Rosemary Shaw in Plymouth in 1927. She was the only child of Eileen Shaw and Robert Edward Shaw. Her father was an Instructor Captain in the Royal Navy.

Schooling During Wartime

Because of World War II, Rosemary's family had to move homes many times. This meant her schooling was often interrupted. She finished her high school education in Liverpool.

Family Life

In 1955, Rosemary married a physicist named David Candlin.