Human and electronic computers share responsibility

Six women translated mathematical problems into switch settings, cable connections and operation sequences, yet were long omitted from accounts.

The machine was commissioned for artillery tables, connecting mathematical innovation with military power.

ENIAC required decomposition of equations, planning of data flow, testing and debugging before stored-program languages existed.

The lunar module reached the Moon after a mission dependent on trajectory design, numerical simulation, navigation and real-time calculation.

Johnson calculated and checked trajectories and helped design procedures for synchronizing spacecraft in lunar orbit.

Its mathematics produced a historic achievement while relying on immense state spending, military technology and geopolitical competition.

Raised in Tehran, Mirzakhani became an influential geometer studying curved surfaces and dynamical systems.

Her work connected geometry, topology and dynamics in spaces whose points represent different shapes of Riemann surfaces.

Olympiad training and university study in Iran preceded her doctorate and research appointments in the United States.

Her birthday later became the date for an international celebration encouraging women's participation in the field.