Famous Computer Scientists and Their Inventions

Computer scientists, since the origins of computer programming, have revolutionised and impacted the development of coding languages. From Ada Lovelace to Steve Jobs, Alan Turing and many others, computer scientists and their inventions have impacted every sphere of life and society for centuries.

Margaret Hamilton

While JavaScript is usually found at the top of the heap of programming languages, most people don’t know anything about the great computer programmers who were behind it. In this case, it was one woman, Margret Hamilton who led the way.

Sadly, names like Margaret Hamilton and other well-known computer programmers do not even ring a bell. In the case of Bell, the Apollo 11 mission would have been a failure without her. Born in 1936 in the United States, she was a systems engineer and computer scientist who became a business leader by founding Hamilton Technologies in 1986. It is more than likely that Hamilton developed her passion for computer science while taking coding lessons at a younger age.

The company pioneered a new language called Universal Systems Language (USL), but it was during her time at NASA that Hamilton became one of the most famous computer programmers of the century. She became known for correcting Apollo 11 missions programmes which was a role that was usually reserved for men. Hamilton is also on the list of the world’s great computer programmers for spotting faults in the control system for the landing on the moon.

It is only fitting that Hamilton is amongst the famous computer scientists and their inventions and was appropriately awarded the NASA Exceptional Space Act Award for scientific and technical contributions. She was also the director for the software engineering department at the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory that worked on the Apollo3 space programme.

Niklaus Wirth

You may have heard the name Niklaus Wirth amongst the most famous computer programmers. Born in 1934 in Switzerland, Wirth is a computer science professor and inventor of a number of computer programmes that evolved into code used in popular culture today.

In particular, he is famed for developing the languages Euler, Pascal and Algol all of which have played a role in the development of modern programming code.

Wirth graduated from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich as an electronic engineer having also obtained a Master of Science from Laval University and even a PhD from the University of Berkeley in the United States. He is not only one of the great computer programmers of our time, but he has also shared his knowledge by publishing various books on programming.

Larry Page

When it comes to any list of famous computer scientists and their inventions, you will find co-founder of today’s most famous search engine, Google. Born in 1973, Page, along with Sergey Brin was involved in the development of search engine algorithm. Page, having been immersed in computers from a young age through his father who was one of Yahoo’s forerunners. Today, as one of the great computer programmers of our time, he holds the title of “International Leader of the Future Economy” awarded by the World Economic Forum.

James Gosling

When it comes to computer scientists and their inventions, James Gosling can boast the creation of Java, a computer language that has been adopted throughout the world by other well known computer programmers and just about everyone in the coding industry.

Born in 1955 in Canada, Gosling’s creation of Java has been used to build millions of website applications. He is also one of the great computer programmers for his creation of NeSs and GoslingEmacs.

Bill Gates

Bill Gates is probably one of the most famous computer programmers to have ever lived and needs no introduction. You could even find a computer science genre film based on his work. He is most well known for co-founding Microsoft and the famed Windows with Paul Allen at the young age of 20.

When it comes to famous computer scientists and their inventions he has always been the wealthiest, dethroned from this position only recently by Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. Today, Gates uses his fortune for philanthropic work and is no longer at the cutting edge of programming.

Mark Zuckerberg

Like Bill Gates, Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg is without doubt one of the most famous computer programmers in existence. Born in 1984, the programmer first began coding during high school and then coded one of the first ever social networks in 2004 Facebook while at Harvard university.

Ken Thompson

Looking to add to your list of famous computer scientists and their inventions? Look no further than Kenneth Lane Thompson, who, born in 1943 in the United States. As the creator of Unix and Plan 9 systems, he also created Go and the B languages. Unix may not be familiar to you, it is however the basis of most smartphones and military systems.

Linus Torvalds

Linus Benedict Torvalds, born in Finland in 1969 is deserving to be on a list of great computer scientists and their inventions for creating Linux, an open-source operating system that has revolutionised how computers work. Unlike Apple and Windows, the Linux system is accessible and free to all.

Torvalds created this system at only 21 and is still the system’s leader. He is known as the "Benevolent Dictator for Life.” Like most well known computer programmers, his work does not stop there and he has developed a decentralised version of management software called Git as well as Subsurface which is dive logging and planning software. Alongside another one of the great computer programmers of our time, Shinya Yamanaka, he has won the Millennium Technology Prize from Finland’s Technology Academy.  According to Wikipedia, he earned this title for his contribution to open-source operating system which have resulted in the Linux Kernel. Looking to be as savvy as Torvalds with coding? A programming lesson from an experienced programming teacher can be the solution.

Grace Hopper

Grace Murray Hopper who was born in New York in 1906 is definitely one of the world’s well known computer programmers. The American is known as the first compiler of the A-0 System, Cobol and her tenure at IBM. During her career (1951-1966) she worked tirelessly on her proposal that computer languages should be more accessible and more similar to English. With this as her goal, the coder developed the Cobol language in 1959in mind, the developer created the Cobol language in 1959. Hopper has had one of the most celebrated careers of all computer scientists and their inventions ultimately earning her the posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2008.

Ada Lovelace

Did you know that computer scientists and their inventions have been impacting the world since the 1800s?

Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) was a true pioneer of the computer science world and is on the list of famous computer scientists and their inventions for her creation of the first true computer programme in history. During the time that Lovelace worked on an analytical machine for Charles Babbage, she made handwritten notes that in fact are the first traces of a computer language.  She is also amongst well known programmers for developing certain calculations and famous throughout the world.

Steve Wozniak

Stephen Wozniak, born in California is a co-founder along with Ronald Wayne and Steve Jobs of Apple Computers. These well known computer programmers were responsible for the creation of Apple I, Apple II, Apple III and Lisa.

Stephen Wozniak, a massive Star Trek fan, and son of an engineer who taught him electronics and mathematics, he has been passionate about electronics from a very young age. These skills enabled him to build a radio motor and become president of the school electronics club at age 13. In his interviews he explains how the idea of selling computers was Jobs’ and that he was sceptical at first. Even though his name is amongst less famous computer scientists and their inventions his work has played a significant role in world history.

Alan Turing

Alan Mathison Turing (1912-1954) was a British cryptologist and mathematician. He is best known for the Turing machine and development of concepts that were important contributors to programming in the second half of the 20^th century. He is well known for decrypting the Enigma technology that was used by the Germans during World War 2.