Jim Liebert

Some people help write history. Margaret Hamilton helped write the software that got us there 🌖 Today we learned that Margaret Hamilton, one of the true pioneers of computing and software engineering, has passed away at the age of 90. Last year I made this video about the Apollo Guidance Computer, and especially about Margaret and the incredible team she led at MIT. It feels appropriate to share it again tonight in her honor. During Apollo 11’s descent to the Moon, the Guidance Computer suddenly began throwing the now-famous 1201 and 1202 alarms. It was overloaded at one of the worst possible moments. But it didn’t simply crash. The software Hamilton and her team had designed recognized what was happening, discarded lower-priority work, and kept the tasks necessary to land the Lunar Module running. That wasn’t luck. That was engineering. Margaret helped pioneer ideas like fault-tolerant software, asynchronous processing and priority scheduling at a time when “software engineering” itself was barely recognized as a discipline. She fought to change that too. We remember the astronauts because they walked on the Moon. We should also remember the engineers who made sure the computers could get them there. Margaret Hamilton was one of the greatest. I am always deeply honored when someone tells me I resemble her, which is a regular occurrence ☺️ Rest in peace, Margaret. And thank you for helping humanity make one giant leap 🌙💻 Music Piano Pill (YouTube).