This illustration is for chapter 3 of the Notable Missourian book on pioneering programmer Jean Bartik. It shows the former farm girl taking in the big city of Philadelphia for the first time.
The Notable Missourian series is published by Truman State University Press. The book on Jean Bartik was written by Kim Todd.
Work has begun on illustrations for the 2015 Notable Missourian series published by Truman State University Press. First up is the story of Jean Bartik, written by Kim Todd. Jean was an early pioneer in computing. In fact, for awhile she was literally a computer. Yes I said that right. It's weird to think now, but in the middle of last century a computer or calculator was a job description, not a device. One of her many notable accomplishments was her work programming the ENIAC, the first general purpose electronic computer. I really want to emphasize how important those early room sized, vacuum tube laden, punch card programmed computers were in getting to where we are today, but I would be in way over my head. I'm just glad I don't have to replace vacuum tubes and patch cables into switch boards to use my iMac.
Speaking of vacuum tubes, when I was a kid I found an old box full of them and thought they were incredibly cool. Not for any practical purpose...I had no idea what they actually did. I just thought they made great doomsday weapons for my toy GI Joes. If you came across my Cobra Commander action figure holding a vacuum tube, some bad stuff was about to go down and GI Joe had some work to do.
Back on topic, here are some rough sketches for Notable Missourian Jean Bartik
Jean as a teen daydreaming in the hayloft
Jean and friends learning about the attack on Pearl Harbor
Working on aircraft during WWII
Small town girl in the big city of Philly
Jean working as a human computer
Jean and another woman working on the ENIAC
Jean up against the glass ceiling