Link: Gladys West made GPS possible

[sonia]

Mother of GPS, Gladys West, Finally Gets Proper Recognition by Judith Fogel. Did you know GPS was made possible by a Black woman (who is still alive)? I sure didn't!

Gladys West and her husband Ira were both mathematicians at Dahlgren Naval Base, then called Dahlgren Naval Proving Ground. West was hired in 1956. Her extraordinary contributions to the geodetic modeling of the earth became the foundation for the Global Positioning System (GPS). But few knew how much this Black woman changed the way we navigate.

ETA: Sadly, she died in Jan 2026. Dr. Gladys West, Mathematician Whose Work Made GPS Possible, Dies at 95 by Mary Wadland.

Comments

Super cool

[jesse_the_k]

...huh, I'd only seen the word Dahlgren in a Samuel Delany novel--I wonder if this was chosen in homage?

Re: Super cool

[sonia]

I noticed that too! I did a quick search and didn't find any connections, but I did find this interview with Samuel Delany from Dec 2020.

[silveradept]

Ah, so now we know who to thank for the systems that keep us from getting too far lost, and who had good models to use so taht the data returned would be accurate. (Or close enough for Pokemon Go.)

[sonia]

I love that she's still alive to get some recognition.