2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom

2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom goes to those girls who code...

United States Navy Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, a pioneer in computer programming

Margaret Hamilton, lead software engineer for the Apollo Program 

Rise of the Rocket Girls

Nathalia Holt, a highly-trained scientist herself, tells the story of the "computers" who just happened to be all women.  Tracing back to the 40's, the rocket girls employed their mechanical pencils, graph paper, slide rules, Friden calculators along with mounds of notebooks to compute and calculate data and equations all "by hand".  Their careful computations were essential to the early development of rocketry and later space exploration.  Dr. Holt includes details of personal issues which all women of this era faced: balancing work and home, child-bearing tribulations, spousal relationships etc.

The Rocket Girls ready to work. 

Worth a read, for sure.

Photos from travel to France: Paris & Bordeaux, Part II

interesting light fixture made of grapevine, wine labels & corks

Bazas cattle

Vintage wine production equipment

Graves terroir

In earlier times, wine was transported on the Gironde River by boat.

cooperage 

Many vintage bottles in the wine library

special device for pouring from a magnum 

Spire in Bordeaux 

Aubusson carpet

Potager garden at Smith-Haute-Lafitte

Potager garden II

Pottage garden III

Photos from travel to France: Paris & Bordeaux, Part I

a château with ionic columns

beautiful architecture and gardens at the châteaux

Lunch hamper full of tasty items

Delicate porcelain dinnerware at Château Haute Bailly

A view of Paris from the clock at Musée d'Orsay

The Tricolore, flag of France

gorgeous clock inside the Musée d'Orsay, originally a train station

Wines stacked and awaiting shipment from within Millesima.

Spitting is acceptable at wine tastings in France.

stainless steel vats

espaliered pear

wine tasting flight

 vineyards everywhere the eye can see

Concrete vats

 the optical sorter: technology to select the very best grapes frown production

view from our hotel in St. Émillion

model of the Statue of Liberty in the Musée d'Orsay

Many center sections of the  wine barrels are stained with the skins of the grapes. 

Bird's eye view of St. Emillion

a stained glass panel depicting the medieval method of "stomping of the grapes", a primitive form of pigeage.