Atypical Girl Geek: A Memoir

by Katherine Hitchcock

Overview

In 1966, fresh out of the University of Washington, armed with a degree in mathematics and her vision of how to put information at our fingertips, Katherine Hitchcock arrived in Santa Clara County (soon to be renamed Silicon Valley) to work at the heart of an innovative IBM laboratory. Challenged to envision how computers could be used in the future, she and her team imagined and built the first online access to the library card catalog.
During her remarkable thirty-five year career, from the time when computers were isolated in air-conditioned rooms to when personal computers occupied every office, she worked alongside talented IBM engineers and programmers who developed the disk drive, ATMs, barcodes, high-speed laser printers, experimental and desktop printers.
Atypical Girl Geek is a lively account, from a woman's point of view, of this dynamic industry. By sharing her personal growth, turning points, technical projects and her environmental contributions, Katherine reveals her unique journey during a time when computers completely reshaped the landscape of our society.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940151018593
Publisher:	VolantPress
Publication date:	11/05/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	168
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Katherine Hitchcock grew up loving puzzles, mysteries and math problems. She studied math at the University of Washington in Seattle and joined IBM as a computer programmer in the mid-‘60s. Toward the end of her career in Silicon Valley, she and her late husband moved aboard and cruised a 38’ sailboat for twelve years on the east coast and the Caribbean. Retired now and no longer sailing, she lives near the water in Seattle where she pursues her interest in philosophy, gardening, hiking, and traveling. She volunteers her time at the Seattle Rose Garden and in the Community Gardening program.

Editorial Reviews

A compelling narrative that conveys the excitement of being in on the ground floor of Silicon Valley.  Katherine Hitchcock was in the right place at the right time to give readers a vivid sense of what it was like to be a high-tech pioneer.

Author of Silicon Valley, Women and the California Dream - Glenna Matthews