Grace Hopper Is The Computer Queen | Letterman

United States Navy rear admiral Grace Hopper talks about her pioneering work in the computer field.
(From "Late Night," air date: 10/2/86)
#gracehopper #navy #letterman
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[@larryconlin118]

When I was a Data Processing Technician 3rd Class in 1986 she spoke at a conference in Virginia Beach. All the seats where taken by senior officers. She walked in and asked the officers to stand up because she wanted "her" Data Processors to sit down front. I still have one of her nano seconds. Almost 40 years later I am still working in the computer field and always remember her speech as one of the things that inspired me to stay in the Navy and to continue with Information Systems as a career.

[@kstepko]

What a phenomenal woman! Dave was always willing to use his celebrity to highlight ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

[@joeybaseball7352]

She's far from ordinary. But yes, most of ordinary guests are way more interesting than whatever nepotism child, Hollywood bimbo he has on promoting her latest fragrance, or celebrity beefcake movie star is there to promote whatever garbage superhero movie they have coming out.

[@privatepenguin3137]

I'll second the "far from ordinary" comment. Grace Hopper is still honored to this day with several conferences named after her....as well as one of the institutions of Yale named after her....and a Navy ship, the USS Hopper is named for her too!

[@kstepko]

I wasn’t trying to imply that Grace Hopper isn’t accomplished or skilled. I’m saying that Dave always made an effort to feature people other than Hollywood celebrities on his show and utilized his own celebrity to help increase the number of people who are aware of them and their contributions. Grace Hopper remains quite humble throughout this interview. It is Dave who keeps on pointing out her accomplishments as extraordinary.

[@privatepenguin3137]

@@kstepko Understood and very true! Dave never kissed up to the Hollywood types anyway. He was always more into the regular everyday people. My comments were more meant for anyone who finds the thread and may not have known who Grace was.

[@johnw8984]

Especially our military who never get put on TV unless it's for something heroic or like this woman did which really is phenomenal considering she was 37 in 1944 she had to be in her early 80s by this time.

[@stereoroid]

In case anyone's curious: she mentioned Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), which was acquired by Compaq, which was acquired by Hewlett Packard.

[@marksasahara1115]

I lived in MA, in the 70's and a few friends and neighbors worked at DEC. I was kind of pumped when she mentioned Digital. God Bless DEC!

[@ron.v]

I'm curious. We used DEC equipment at the data center where I worked. Because it was Bell System, we used UNIX and DEC PDP-11s, the same minicomputer on which UNIX was created and developed. I loved that equipment and always wondered what happened to DEC. Thanks for the history lesson.

[@paul_frazee]

DEC was actually a big deal. They built the PDP-7 and PDP-11 mini computers which were very important in the 70s. In fact, the operating system "Unix" was originally built for the PDP machines, and basically any device that's not running Windows can trace it's software lineage back to Unix. It's fairly unsurprising that Hopper would have been working at DEC, because both she and DEC were the top of the industry. (Hopper was not a part of Unix, however. Those engineers are legends in their own rights.)

[@tick7146]

And to this very day, HP still supports OpenVMS which is the OS that originally ran on the VAX11 / 750 / 780. To clarify some of the replies, , PDP computers did not run UNIX, they either ran RT11 or RSX. RT11 was for real-time applications whereas RSX was for traditional computing

[@clurkroberts2650]

I had the honor meeting the Admiral in the 80s. She delivered a speech to Memorex Computer Technology Symposium. I was impressed with her knowledge, and command of speech and the audience. Go Navy!

[@hard2starboard312]

I retired from the Navy and knew of Adm Hopper, but had no idea she appeared on Letterman. This 9 and a half minute video was one of the most enjoyable I've ever seen, and makes me proud to have worn the same uniform she did. What a brilliant mind she was.

[@MarcusHammarberg]

> How did you know so much about the computers? > I didn't - this was the first one What an amazing person!

[@DommageCollateral]

this is actually not true. the first concept of computer (as a calculation machine) as was already created in the late midages, but it failed because back then they coudnt assemble so many wooden gears. but besides that, computer is also title for a person who did calculations

[@gregh5061]

Obviously when people talk about computers they're referring to modern day ones running on electricity. Your argument is spurious.

[@AbdulGabagool83]

What a badassline

[@DesignBuildExecute]

One of the most brilliant minds to walk this Earth. Dave had no idea how lucky he was to have met her.

[@Gr8Layks]

He had _some_ idea-he invited her onto the show.

[@maryk3458]

She reminded me of his mom Dorothy

[@MakeLifeExtraordinary]

For anybody 37 learning computers for the first time, is a task. Now be 37 and learn the first computer so well that you can write a manual for other people to be able to use that computer. That is amazing. What an amazing woman. The experiences she had in her life, truly awe inspiring.

[@keefriff99]

Very true. I’m a 44-year old software engineer, and learning new concepts gets more difficult as you age. Your brain elasticity isn’t nearly what it was in your teens and 20s. She is amazing.

[@romanval69]

She wasn't totally green-- she already had a Ph.D in mathematics.. But it's still quite an accomplishment, especially in the early 1940's.

[@joshmos]

wow she's GREAT!!!

[@joekelley5121]

I've been a computer geek since I was a kid, and have read about Grace, but never seen any videos of her. Such a charming person! The computer owes her a lot!

[@privatepenguin3137]

Grace is STILL honored today with conferences and events named in her honor....a navy ship named after her....and I think one of the schools of Yale is also named after her.

[@maryk3458]

and a park in Arlington va. she lived within walking distance of the Pentagon.

[@GrantTarredus]

Thank you both for telling us!

[@Igor-om2wy]

Also, an optical fiber cable connecting North America and Europe, laid by the Google Corporation

[@jaberwoky_]

What a legend! No idea how I missed this episode of Letterman back in the day. I was a batch COBOL programmer at the start of my career. One of the most elusive software bugs to find was a missing period.

[@Frankincensedjb123]

COBOL, wow! Ancient history. Did you write on hollerith cards and submit your program on a tray to the operator for processing? 😄 When I started, I programmed in RPGIII on an AS400. Ancient times, indeed.

[@jaberwoky_]

@@Frankincensedjb123 Our providing systems were pretty advanced - we submitted jobs in batch with JCL. (Job Control Language) We did have some paper tape readers though. I also programmed in RPG and Assembler but moved over to mini computer (desktop) programming against the advice of my manager. He said there was no future in desktop computing. 😁

[@bitteroldman]

@@jaberwoky_ S0C7

[@bitteroldman]

@@Frankincensedjb123 and I was the operator/admin who fixed 90% of the errors b/c the "smart" people couldnt spell or use proper syntax

[@Somenite]

@@Frankincensedjb123 Not so ancient history. Still hundreds of billions of lines of COBOL running with 40% of existing banking systems built on it. Used quite a bit still in the insurance industry as well. No one wants to pay to rewrite all those systems.

[@DrStrange1966]

Oops, she did get a unit wrong. A picosecond is a trillionth of a second, not a quadrillionth of a second.

[@OrigamiMarie]

I noticed that. I think the names and sizes of all the tiny fractions and large multiples were kinda being standardized during her time, so I'll forgive her for the errors.

[@patton303]

Wow! I remember this episode. I watched it back in college. Probably while doing my homework. Grace is amazing!

[@michaelparks6120]

You actually DID your homework in college? I seee.... perhaps that is where I Strayed

[@patton303]

@@michaelparks6120 To get a degree that I've never actually used. So it balances out. 👍

[@michaelparks6120]

@@patton303 hahaha.... dig

[@jamesanthony5681]

I remember this Letterman episode, and I remember the earlier 60 Minutes interview that Morley Safer did with her. Safer asked her (Ph. D., Math) if women were better than men at mathematics. 'No, about the same,' I believe was her reply.

[@MatthewHarrold]

This woman is severely underrated in history.

[@nezlquasie]

Many woman are.

[@poppyallgood6918]

@@nezlquasieCame to say this. Now I have to think of something different🤔…

[@poppyallgood6918]

THERE USED TO BE *WOMEN*??! 😮🫨🤯

[@MarcusHammarberg]

The way she takes time to put the pepper pack back in her purse, without giving Letterman a glance. She is a legend

[@donp1964]

I love this woman! Such an impressive career, and still sharp witted in this interview.

[@BryanSteacy]

Hey Letterman staff. Thanks for all the uploads. If you're pulling from the original tapes you should consider deinterlacing everything to double the framerate. That way no data would be lost and it'd be a great KZbin archive copy.

[@ilhuicatlamatini]

Whoa! Had no idea she was a guest on Letterman, what a cool clip to share with classrooms! Could have used this in my digital course presentation last year.

[@gertrudelaronge6864]

Very impressive! Why have I never heard of this woman? She is amazing!

[@shaunhayward]

She was so incredibly brilliant and her whit was unrivalled.

[@petewhite85]

Bravo Zulu Grace! A national treasure.

[@elizabethlarson9655]

Yay! Thank you for posting this. I'd asked about this interview some months back. Very excited to see it!

[@new2vero2]

lol few Times Dave was on his BEST behavior… she was great

[@sprintwithcarlos]

Love her, one of the greatest human beings ever 🔝

[@elizabethcanales7170]

"Well, World War II to begin with......"🤣🤣🤣. Awesome lady!

[@maryk3458]

that was a hoot!

[@Ratstail91]

God bless - she literally wrote the book on computers...

[@benda18]

What a blessing to see this interview.

[@aslansown]

Wonderful interview!

[@jorgeserratoc3031]

I LOVE THIS WOMAN, SHE WAS SO FUNNY

[@mfpendle]

She's just wonderful!

[@macicana64]

She is adorable!

[@VinchenzoC]

Classic stuff. Thanks, Dave!

[@Cheektowga]

Love her!

[@robertsmith5805]

Gracie was a legend.....

[@RichardHandal301]

Good to see the filmmaker fellow get his request.

[@martina5296]

Why isn't she more known!!? There are so many women who were in male dominated (ONLY) fields yet no one learns about them school. That does a disservice to what they had to go through and their courage. Not only that, but they succeeded anyway. Grace Hopper is an incredible woman who is real pioneer in computers. That was/is incredible about David Letterman. He interviewed/interviews incredible, interesting and remarkable people who aren't famous or wealthy.

[@rice31254]

She is incredibly well known to the military community. Programmers also know her via curriculum.

[@Ahjile]

She actually didn't have to go through too much of anything, or at least not anything more than an average male student goes through today. The first "computers", as they were actually called, were just women who were really good at math. After that, machine computers were initially programmed and operated primarily by women like Grace. And also like her, many other women created the first programming languages and software. The whole industry, in the software, programming, and maintenance areas, was staffed and run primarily by women, and it stayed that way for several decades, until men started entering the field far more in the 1970s. It only became a field staffed and run primarily by men at some point before 1990. And the decline in women in that field has been sharp ever since, perhaps because women began to see it more and more as a male "dominated" field and don't know the history of it.

[@chrisfoxwell4128]

This woman knows more in 1986 than I know now.

[@fredsalter1915]

What a doll she is! I wish I had just a fraction of her intelligence!

[@rowdybear9830]

What a fascinating interesting lady! Thank you for your service!

[@christopherkingston9601]

Fabulous life, both of them.

[@GPSjammer]

What an interview! haha

[@DrStrange1966]

I had just started working at DEC (the Digital Equipment Corporation she plugs at the beginning of the interview :-) ) when I saw this air. She is amazing, and also this reminds me of how good Dave is at interviewing. Quick-witted and genuinely interested in what his guests had to say.

[@arthurharrison1345]

Wonderful.

[@cjar8989]

So cool!

[@SusieFarias.]

Beyond she is so smart, she is also very cute

[@kevinpason730]

Much love she did it as duty and beautiful and funny woman

[@echopathy]

fantastic

[@richardiporter]

legend

[@jacobsmith4284]

I think ol Grace was hitting on Dave with that last question.

[@AztecHusBone]

OMG, so smart, very intimidating

[@jacobdavidcunningham1440]

4:33 omg the wire haha what pico second peppers ha

[@gertrudelaronge6864]

Grace is truly amazing! I wonder if that song is about her?

[@VictorTsaran]

Wow!

[@BobBlanchett]

Oh My Heart!

[@marksasahara1115]

I don't know much, but I'm pretty sure that without Rear Admiral Hopper, the evolution of computers would not be where they are today. Side note: She was part of the team that found the first literal computer bug, a moth stuck inside the electronics of the Harvard MK II Computer. Dave did a good job helping draw her out and letting her be naturally funny.

[@ron.v]

Thanks for mentioning the bug. I remember her telling that story during another interview. I think she also developed or help develop COBOL.

[@marksasahara1115]

@@ron.v Hey! Yeah, if you look at her biography, she def helped create COBOL. I think she was the first to compile info.

[@ron.v]

@@marksasahara1115 She is definitely a legend. Thanks for the info. Amazing how they first programmed in machine language (if you want to call it that) by flipping switches. When we booted the UNIX PDP-11s on the job in the 1980s we were still flipping switches. LOL

[@armusc757]

Smart as can be, tuff as nails. She must be the coolest granny ever.

[@maryk3458]

No kids. Divorced young.

[@BobbySacamano]

What a badass

[@lorib360]

Yes!

[@alanhoffman-mp2es]

Grace and Margaret Hamilton 😮😮😮Any Questions

[@420sakura1]

And Augusta Ada

[@changtimwu]

During the interview, she is around 80 years old, yet her mind remains remarkably clear. Perhaps we should learn from her health regimen.

[@TheGreatAtario]

I think Commodore sounds cooler than Rear Admiral

[@keithdow8327]

She is definitely a software person. It is pronounced "pee-co-seconds."

[@keefriff99]

Well I’m a “software person” and I’ve always pronounced it “pee-co”…but then, it was probably a much more uncommon term in her day. Also I think a picosecond is a billionth of a second, not a quadrillionth.

[@maryk3458]

I love your profile pic or Gort.

[@steveflor9942]

When Giants walked the Earth.....

[@matgood6231]

So what is Dave’s ethnic background?

[@privatepenguin3137]

His mom's maiden name is Hofert. Not sure if that helps. Seems like he may have at least some German on both sides.

[@nahblue]

@@privatepenguin3137 Bad news for his sense of humor

[@privatepenguin3137]

@@nahblue But GREAT news for making chocolate!

[@frankcarollo5673]

I heard that she coined the terms "computer bug" and "debug". Ahead of her time.

[@alexandertroy9621]

What are these "Computers" of which she speaks?

[@maryk3458]

So you are not grat at math but love the correct grammar.

[@alexandertroy9621]

@@maryk3458 So you are not "grat" at spelling OR understanding jokes, but feel the need to comment.

[@MONSTERDR451]

oh good SIGNALS PEEPS from ONI.

[@godblessCL]

Why did they call it, Mark 1

[@hard2starboard312]

"Mark" is a way of verbalizing the common use of "Mk" in designations of defense/military equipment.

[@Alvan81]

Adm Hopper should be just as well known as Jobs, Wozniak etc.

[@BobbySacamano]

Idk if you're history buffs or not...

[@danimart3374]

How many people here are watching this clip on a computer? Anyone? Alright. Now, here's a fun one: how many people here are NOT watching this clip on a computer? Something other than a computer? Anyone? Oh, really?

[@privatepenguin3137]

Oddly enough, I'm watching on a rotary phone.

[@maryk3458]

@@privatepenguin3137 hahaha

[@bitteroldman]

@@privatepenguin3137 Did you ask Sarah at the switchboard to patch you in?

[@jimmysaboter3]

7:35 - a picosecond is NOT a quadrillionth of a second. It's a trillionth of a second.

[@alexandertroy9621]

"Letterman" sounds like it is of a Germanic origin.

[@Frankincensedjb123]

She spoke at my college graduation back in '96. She was great. Here she's 79, same age as Sleepy Joe, but unlike him, she's as sharp as a tack.

[@Laerrus999]

"She spoke at my college graduation back in '96. She was great." Ahh... Rear Admiral Hopper passed away January 1, 1992.

[@jamesisaac7684]

She prefers Teagan over Carter. Sad. But what a woman!?

[@charleybarley914]

She'd listen to Elon for about 5 seconds then tell him to drop and give her 20 pushups.

[@420sakura1]

She likes facisrs and capitalists so highly doubt it. She will support him 120%.

[@ClapYourHairFlip]

Love it! 😆