The Computers Documentary
Kathleen McNulty Mauchly Antonelli
Jean Jennings Bartik
Marlyn Wesco Meltzer
Betty Snyder Holberton

“Fans of Dava Sobel’s The Glass Universe and Margot Lee Shetterly’s Hidden Figures are in for a treat” (Publishers Weeky) with this untold, World War II-era story of the six American women who programmed the world’s first modern computer.

Proving Ground

After the end of World War II, the race for technological supremacy sped on. Top-secret research into ballistics and computing, begun during the war to aid those on the front lines, continued across the United States as engineers and programmers rushed to complete their confidential assignments. Among them were six pioneering women, Betty Snyder (later Holberton), Kathleen McNulty (Mauchly), Jean Jennings Bartik, Ruth Licherman (Teitelbaum), Frances Bilas (Spence), and Marlyn Wescoff (Meltzer), tasked with figuring out how to program the world’s first general-purpose, programmable, all-electronic computer–better known as the ENIAC— without manuals or programming languages (none existed).

While most students of computer history are aware of this innovative machine, the great contributions of the women who programmed it were never told in full—until now.

Hear Their Voices

For over a decade, Kathy Kleiman met with four of the original six ENIAC Programmers and recorded extensive interviews about their work. PROVING GROUND restores these six women to their rightful place as technological leaders. As the tech world continues to struggle with gender imbalance and its far-reaching consequences, the story of the ENIAC Programmers’ groundbreaking work is more urgently needed, and PROVING GROUND is the celebration they deserve.

Book Reviews Share That Proving Ground is Inspiring

“Kleiman has a novelist’s gift for crafting a page-turning narrative, and the one on offer is both revelatory and inspiring. Fans of Dava Sobel’s The Glass Universe and Margot Lee Shetterly’s Hidden Figures are in for a treat.”
Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Kathy Kleiman’s courageous pursuit across decades discovering and sharing the story of the extraordinary contribution of these first programmers and founding inventors gives us a gift that can change the future – empowering a more welcoming technical innovation culture for all.”
–Megan Smith, Former United States Chief Technology Officer and CEO shift7

“With unforgettable, detailed prose, Kleiman blends the history of early computing with the lives of the women who made modern programming possible. Proving Ground is a book so deeply inspiring that it has the power to completely alter how we see the technology field and the role of women within it.”
—Nathalia Holt, New York Times bestselling author of Rise of the Rocket Girls

Order Now

Order Proving Ground by Kathy Kleiman, published by Grand Central Publishing, From Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, Target and other book sellers.

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The Team at ENIAC Programmers Project