Algorithm
A sequence of instructions allowing a machine or human to perform a task or calculation. Ada Lovelace was the first to design one for a machine.
Glossary — Matilda Project
Accessible, educational definitions adapted to a non-specialist audience. Terms are organized by thematic categories and sorted alphabetically.
Technical Concepts & Notions
Loop (computing)
An instruction that repeats an action as long as a condition is true. A concept already present in Ada Lovelace's notes.
Symbolic computation
The idea that a machine can manipulate symbols (letters, musical notes, images) and not just numbers. A vision anticipated by Ada Lovelace.
Compiler
A program that translates a computer language into instructions understandable by a machine. Invented by Grace Hopper.
Conditional (computing)
An instruction that allows a program to make a decision based on a condition (if..., then...). A fundamental concept of programming.
Analytical Engine
A theoretical machine designed by Charles Babbage in the 19th century. It is considered the ancestor of the modern computer.
Difference Engine
First mechanical calculating machine designed by Babbage to automate mathematical tables.
Bernoulli numbers
A sequence of numbers used in mathematics. Ada Lovelace wrote a program to calculate them automatically.
Sociological & Historical Notions
Disappropriation
Isabelle Collet's concept: the process by which women are gradually excluded from a field they nevertheless helped to build.
Matilda Effect
Margaret W. Rossiter's concept: the mechanism by which women scientists' contributions are minimized, ignored or attributed to men.
Matthew Effect
The opposite phenomenon: already recognized scientists receive more credit, even for work they did not do.
Invisibilization
A social and cultural process that erases the presence or contributions of a group — here, women in science and digital technology.
Scientific patriarchy
A system in which scientific institutions value men, their work and their careers more.
Female Figures (Pioneers & Forgotten)
Ada Lovelace (1815–1852)
First programmer in history. Designed the first algorithm intended for a machine.
Agnes Pockels (1862–1935)
Self-taught chemist, pioneer of surface science.
Candace Pert (1946–2013)
Neurobiologist who discovered opioid receptors.
Frieda Robscheit-Robbins (1893–1973)
Co-author of major work on pernicious anemia, long overshadowed.
Gerty Cori (1896–1957)
First woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Medicine (1947).
Grace Hopper (1906–1992)
Computer scientist, inventor of the first compiler.
Hertha Ayrton (1854–1923)
Physicist and mathematician, specialist in the electric arc.
Jocelyn Bell Burnell (born 1943)
Discovers the first pulsar in 1967, but her supervisor receives the Nobel alone.
Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson
African American mathematicians at NASA, revealed by Hidden Figures.
Lise Meitner (1878–1968)
Co-discovers nuclear fission, excluded from the Nobel awarded to Otto Hahn.
Margaret Hamilton (born 1936)
Head of software development for Apollo 11.
Mary Somerville (1780–1872)
Mathematician and scientist, intellectual mentor of Ada Lovelace.
Matilda Joslyn Gage (1826–1898)
Feminist activist who denounced the erasure of women in history.
Rosalind Franklin (1920–1958)
Her X-ray photographs reveal the structure of DNA, but she is not credited in the Nobel.
Trotula (11th century)
Medieval physician, pioneer of gynecology.
Books, Authors & Essays
Youth biographies
Illustrated works allowing children to discover women scientists (Ada Lovelace, Marie Curie, etc.).
The Matilda Effect — Margaret W. Rossiter
Historical work that theorized the erasure of women scientists.
The Woman Who Knew Too Much — Marie Benedict
Biographical novel highlighting a forgotten woman scientist.
Wild Calculations — Catherine Dufour
Novel mixing science, fiction and critique of gender inequalities.
The Forgotten Women in Digital — Isabelle Collet (2019)
Sociological essay analyzing the invisibilization of women in computing.
Films & Documentaries
Annihilation (2018)
Film featuring a group of female researchers, rare in sci-fi.
Cherchez la femme (Arte)
Documentary series in stop motion retracing the paths of forgotten women.
Code: Debugging the Gender Gap (2015)
Documentary on gender inequalities in tech.
Contact (1997)
A scientist sees her discoveries attributed to a man.
Hidden Figures (2016)
Film about three African American mathematicians at NASA.
Picture a Scientist (2020)
Documentary on sexism and harassment in science.
Radioactive (2019)
Biopic of Marie Curie, double Nobel Prize winner.
She Started It (2016)
Documentary about female entrepreneurs in tech.
The Ball Method (2020)
Short film about Alice Ball, chemist erased from history.
The Computers (2014)
Documentary about the six ENIAC programmers.
Technologies & Historical Objects
ENIAC
First programmable electronic computer, programmed by six women.
Analytical Engine
Theoretical prototype of a universal computer imagined by Babbage.
Difference Engine
Mechanical machine designed to automate calculations.