Reading about Margaret Hamilton made me realize how much of the space race story we usually miss. We often focus on the astronauts and the rockets, but here was someone working behind the scenes, writing the code that actually made the missions possible. What is fascinating is that she was doing all of this before “software engineering” was even considered a real field. She helped define it as a serious discipline, at a time when software was seen as secondary to hardware.
One moment that really stood out was when Hamilton tried to build in error protection after her daughter accidentally caused a crash in a simulation. She was told it would never happen during a real mission, but it did. Because of the precautions she took, the astronauts were able to land safely. It makes me think about how we often overlook the importance of preparing for the unexpected. Her work was not just about getting things to function, but about thinking ahead and designing systems that could handle failure.
There is also something meaningful in the way she worked: methodical, thoughtful, and persistent, even when her contributions were underestimated. She showed that innovation is not just about new inventions, but also about foresight and responsibility. Her story raises an important question: how many people are quietly shaping the world through careful, often invisible work, and how can we do better at recognizing their impact?