Bletchley Park codebreaker Margaret Betts has died

[neonate]

https://archive.md/tECwJ

[bell-cot]

> “When we said that sounds really exciting, like James Bond spy stuff, she said no, it wasn’t at all like that, it was very humdrum. We were operating machines night and day and it was incredibly boring work most of the time.

> “You just had to stand by the machines, you had to concentrate when you were programming it and make sure it was set up correctly, and the rest of the time you were there watching it, waiting for it to come up with something.”

Maybe I'm a bit dim...but I've just never gotten over how otherwise-intelligent-seeming people keep defaulting to "the real world is like Hollywood's fantasy spectacles".

OTOH, we live in a world where "Gell-Mann Amnesia effect" merits its own Wictionary page. So I probably am at least a bit dim...

[realaleris149]

> "You just had to stand by the machines, you had to concentrate when you were programming it and make sure it was set up correctly, and the rest of the time you were there watching it, waiting for it to come up with something."

So exactly what we do today too

[pflanze]

I wonder what she did after the war given she was talented with logic and programming? She couldn't have used her work as a reference, but she still had experience for a good use.

[efm]

Mar Hicks' book Programmed Inequality [1] is some of the story of how post-war Britain lost the lead in computing.

[1] https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262535182/programmed-inequality...

[ydnaclementine]

Recently watched the Imitation Game as prep for a visit this weekend to the Museum of Computing located at Bletchley Park: https://www.tnmoc.org/

[jackmott42]

For those who have seen the movie and her struggles with sexism to get a job there, it is important to note that in real life the way she got in at Bletchley, was they called her immediately because she was known to be one of the best.

[PaulRobinson]

Be aware TNMOC is separate - but co-located next to - Bletchley Park. You can do both in a day, but they're different tickets and different exhibits. Enjoy your visit!

[pizzaknife]

cryptonomicon is a fun read

[samstave]

Its crazy awesome how many revolutions in computing were made of women of (notable) obscurity (meaning their inventions/contributions were not as widely publisized as they should have been.

FFS Madame Curie should have inspired a heck-ton more STEM females...

But, there are some foundational corner-stones of computing and technology that have been created by females.

[bell-cot]

Not that your statements are untrue, or I've anything against women or Ms. Betts, but...

The article makes it clear that Mary was nothing remotely resembling an inventor, discoverer, or Madam Curie. Her job was very dull, repetitive clerical work. The men mowing the lawns and replacing burned-out light bulbs were of similar skill. Mary is newsworthy now because she was one of the last survivors of some ~80-years-ago history.

[ttrrooppeerr]

Nitpick but dead announcements usually don't include other than the name: https://hn.algolia.com/?q=has+died

Also, RIP, a true heroine.

Also, also, black top, please, dang.

[dylan604]

The boring has "died titles" are so lame and not helpful.

This immediately told me so much more information. Most of the time, I'm not immediately familiar with a person by name even if their work is much more familiar to me. Associating a reason for their passing being news in the headline is so much more useful.