Grace Hopper: Admiral Of The Cyber Sea (Library of Naval Biography).

Book review by Jane
This book is the first biography aimed at adults on Grace Hopper. There are two others written for children, which makes sense because Grace was interested in education and taught and gave talks to young people. Before Grace worked on computers, she studied math, eventually receiving a doctorate. World War II created a need for people with math backgrounds to work on computers, calculating firing tables. Grace was a pioneer on the Mark I computer, and later worked to standardize computer programming languages for the Navy. Throughout her career, she was basically involved in marketing the computers to the Navy and universities, where she accomplished much in the way of efficiency in computing. Grace advanced through the ranks to admiral by using her intelligence and also her leadership skills and powers of persuasion.

Looking at Grace Hopper’s life provides insight to help adults answer the questions of young people on how to succeed in life. Grace Hopper’s successes also clearly remind adults to keep focused to achieve goals and to keep striving, and stay positive.

This book is well written, taking a good look at the beginnings of Grace Hopper and her family history. It also gives a good understanding of what computing was like in the beginning. It describes Grace’s unusual views on women in the computer field and in the military. Although she lived in a time when women were rare in this field, she felt there was nothing holding women back from succeeding and lived her life accordingly. She tirelessly gave presentations for the Navy. She always pushed beyond what was accepted to achieve new objectives.

There are pictures of Grace Hopper from early childhood up until her older years. The book mixes personal information with her professional accomplishments. It must have been something special to be acquainted with Grace Hopper.

Jane.